Rooted in many ancient religious traditions dating back thousands of years, meditation has been increasingly used in our modern world to reduce stress and improve our quality of life.
In addition to stress reduction, meditation brings many incredible benefits to us in unimaginable ways. But how do we meditate? What’s the optimal duration and best postures? What should you be thinking about during meditation? These questions will be answered by both western and eastern medical experts in our series of articles.
Follow the series “Meditation” here.
Psychiatric nurse practitioner Deborah Collins-Perrica recently shared a story with The Epoch Times regarding the miraculous benefits of meditation seen in her practice.Her former patient, a combat pilot in the U.S. Air Force, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In his previous consultations with multiple neurologists, he was told that his progressive disease would eventually paralyze him.
Collins-Perrica decided to teach him to meditate, specifically using the sitting exercise of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong). He began with the easiest pose, slowly increasing his ability to sit for a much longer period of time. Eventually, his meditation practice advanced to an entire hour while sitting in the full lotus position.
Fast forward several years and he is now full of energy, happy, and working full time. His neurologists have been surprised by his progress and told him, “We have no scientific explanation for what’s happening to you.” According to Collins-Perrica, “That practice completely changed everything for him.”
Meditation has the potential to heal or improve chronic disease symptoms, including those related to cancer, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. It may even help patients live longer with a better quality of life.
How Meditation Affects Chronic Disease
Lengthens Telomeres on Our DNA
Telomeres are the cap-like segments of DNA found at the end of our chromosomes that maintain chromosome integrity and control the cell division cycle. Whenever a cell divides, telomeres become slightly shortened, and they can no longer multiply or repair body tissues. When they reach a specific threshold, the cells initiate apoptosis, or programmed cell death.Telomere length becomes shorter as we age, and this shortening process has been linked to risks for chronic diseases such as cancer.
Studies have shown that people with longer telomeres may actually live longer and healthier lives.
A Canadian study published in the journal Cancer, found that meditation may lengthen telomeres and possibly prolong lifespan by reducing stress and providing emotional support.
Stress Reduction
Sunjya Schweig, MD, an expert in complex chronic illnesses, told The Epoch Times, “Many people with chronic illnesses have significant added stress due to their illness and (in a vicious cycle) stress can make their illness worse.”In one study, 90 patients with various types of cancer were assigned either to a meditation group or a waitlist group. The meditation group underwent a weekly meditation session of 1.5 hours for seven weeks and practiced meditation at home. Compared to the waitlist group, the meditation group experienced reductions in stress, depression, anxiety, anger, confusion, and experienced fewer symptoms overall. The group reported a 65 percent reduction in mood disturbance and a 31 percent reduction in symptoms related to stress.
Immunity Boost
Patients suffering from chronic illness often have a weakened immune system. Meditation has been shown to increase immunity through the production of antibodies and other immune cells.Research shows that meditation can enhance telomerase activity, significantly reduce inflammation, and increase the number of CD4 cells, which are the helper cells of the immune system responsible for sending signals to other immune cells to eliminate infections.
A study from India found that meditation can reduce interleukin-6 (a type of cytokine that plays a key role in the inflammatory response), C-reactive protein (a protein that is produced by the liver in response to inflammation), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (a protein that plays a key role in the body’s immune response to infections and inflammation).
Circulation Improvement
Naiwen Hu, an internationally renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor, said that when meditating in the full lotus position, our legs will be bent and crossed, so the peripheral circulation of our feet is not good. However, after meditation, once the legs are no longer crossed, the blood will instantly flush through the veins, which can help open the blockages in the lower body.By jump-starting your blood flow, oxygen can freely flow to your cells and organs such as the heart and brain, improving symptoms associated with chronic disease.
Improvement of Chronic Disease Symptoms
Numerous studies have found that meditation can improve symptoms of numerous chronic diseases, including cancer, autoimmune diseases, and long COVID.May Extend Lifespan of Cancer Patients
Although there’s no clinical evidence to show that meditation can actually cure cancer, its myriad of benefits, including stress reduction and energy boost, may enhance and prolong the life of a cancer patient.In the Canadian study previously mentioned, 88 breast cancer survivors were randomly assigned into three groups, including a meditation group, a supportive therapy group, and a group that did not participate in meditation or supportive therapy. The meditation group participants attended eight weekly 90-minute meditation sessions, while the therapy group participants met for 12 weeks, 90 minutes per week.
The study researchers later discovered that participants’ telomere lengths in the meditation and therapy support groups had been maintained, whereas the telomere lengths of the third group, those who did not participate in meditation or support therapy, had become shorter.
Since telomere length has been associated with lifespan, the cancer survivors who participated in meditation and support therapy may have extended their lifespan.
Improves Autoimmune Disease Symptoms
While Collins-Perrica presented anecdotal evidence of how meditation helped her patient recover from multiple sclerosis, numerous research studies have demonstrated the effects of meditation on improving the symptoms of various autoimmune diseases.A study of 37 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis underwent phototherapy or photochemotherapy, which involved ultraviolet light therapy to treat their psoriasis. Some of the patients also participated in meditation while receiving ultraviolet light therapy, while others did not.
The researchers discovered that meditation significantly increased the psoriatic lesion resolution for patients who performed meditation. The patients in the meditation group reached their psoriasis-clearing point after 35 days, which was 16 days earlier than those without meditation.
An eight-week pilot study found that a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program improved disease activity and reduced medication requirements for patients with autoimmune hepatitis disease for one year, with 35 percent of patients experiencing a median reduction in the level of their serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT). ALT is an enzyme in the liver that is released into the bloodstream when liver cells are damaged. Furthermore, 71 percent of the participants had significant immunosuppressant dose reductions.
Another autoimmune disease, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common type of lupus, can affect multiple organs. In a 2021 study, 26 SLE patients were randomly assigned to an MBSR or a non-meditation group. After the completion of the MBSR course, this group showed greater improvements in their quality of life and SLE symptoms, compared to the non-meditation group.
The researchers concluded that meditation had “significant therapeutic potential” for SLE patients.
Additionally, in a review of 21 studies on the effects of meditation on autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and SLE, the researchers found a correlation between psychological functioning affected by meditation and biomarker changes. They stated that mindfulness-based interventions may have a positive impact on patient outcomes and could be used in combination with pharmacotherapy in treating autoimmune diseases.
Reduces Cardiovascular Disease Risk
By using data from the National Health Interview Survey, a 2020 study found that meditation is associated with a lower prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and disease.In another study, 201 black male and female participants with coronary heart disease were randomly assigned to either a meditation group or a health education group. For participants in the first group, meditation was added to their usual care.
During 5.4 years of follow-up, compared to the second group, the meditation group participants had a 48 percent reduction in heart attack, stroke, and all-cause mortality. They also had a 24 percent risk reduction for cardiovascular death and hospitalization.
One major cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, is caused by plaque buildup in coronary arteries.
A study conducted in India published in the International Journal of Yoga, 60 participants with coronary artery disease were randomly assigned to a meditation group and a non-meditation group. After six months, the researchers saw a significant decrease in the meditation group’s blood sugar levels, whereas the non-meditation group had a significant increase in fasting serum insulin levels compared to their respective levels six months earlier.
Elevations in blood sugar have been associated with an increased risk for coronary artery disease. Certain types of meditation, such as MBSR, have been found to have the potential to significantly lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Based on current research, the American Heart Association considers meditation beneficial to heart health and recommends it as an adjunct to guideline-directed cardiovascular risk reduction.
Improves Long COVID Symptoms
Meditation has also been used to treat COVID symptoms during the pandemic and has been shown to be effective in improving long COVID.In a recently published study, 34 patients suffering from long COVID were randomly assigned into a meditation group and a non-meditation group. The meditation group participated in 10 sessions of 30-minute meditation over the course of five weeks.
After the completion of the meditation program, the participants in the meditation group showed improvement in physical and mental fatigue, muscle pain, depression, and mood disturbances. The researchers concluded that meditation could be useful in combating these symptoms in long COVID patients.
In addition, a review found that meditation can bring many health benefits to patients with long COVID, including decreasing symptoms of fatigue, insomnia, pain, cognitive impairment, and motor performance issues. The authors concluded that meditation may have achieved this by maintaining immunological homeostasis and modulating the sympathetic nervous system.
Improves Diabetes Symptoms
Meditation is recommended by medical authorities to improve diabetes symptoms and reduce medications.A recently published review and meta-analysis concluded that mind and body practices such as meditation could improve glycemic control among patients with Type 2 diabetes, with a clinically significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin and fasting blood glucose. The mind-body practices were found to be almost as effective as diabetic drugs, and the authors concluded that they could be used as complementary non-pharmacological treatment methods for diabetes, although they shouldn’t replace diabetes medications.
According to another systematic review involving diabetic patients, meditation practices have been associated with significant improvements in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood sugar levels, body weight, waist circumference, and high-density lipoprotein.
In a South Korean study, 48 patients with Type 2 diabetes and/or hypertension were randomly assigned to a meditation group and a health education group. After eight weeks, compared to the health education group, the meditation group’s “bad” low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels had been significantly reduced.
The researchers suggested that meditation could be used as a long-term complementary treatment method for diabetes.
Helps Manage Chronic Pain
In a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, 15 volunteers who participated in four days of meditation in the presence of noxious stimulation reported a 57 percent reduction in their pain unpleasantness, and a 40 percent reduction in pain intensity.In another study, 48 participants with chronic low back pain, who were all female, were randomly assigned into an MBSR group and a non-meditation group, while both groups continued with their usual medical care. After undergoing eight sessions of meditation, the meditation-assigned group reported considerably lower pain than the control group.
Meditation has also been found to be an effective treatment for chronic pain disorders, such as fibromyalgia.
Benefits Other Chronic Diseases
Patients with chronic gut issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome, or mental illness can also use meditation to help treat their conditions.By creating a healthier environment, we open up greater pathways to healing, like protecting telomere length, reducing cardiac events, and reducing chronic pain. Stress only exacerbates our symptoms for all diseases, and when that happens, our health will deteriorate more quickly. Meditation is a powerful mechanism for preventing or improving all chronic disease.
