People suffering from stressful conditions due to painful ailments, such as rheumatoid arthritis, can alleviate their symptoms by taking advantage of a special form of meditation based on mindfulness, say researchers. They add that such treatment has every chance of becoming a cheaper and more effective alternative to medication.
The type of meditation proposed by the specialists consists in concentrating a person on his own breathing and bodily sensations, due to which a reduction in the level of stress and even pain is achieved.
A recent study by scientists from the University of Wisconsin in the United States showed that the sedative effects of meditation can also be applied to people with chronic inflammatory diseases associated with stress, such as asthma or bowel disease.
The study compared two different ways to reduce stress: the first is meditation, the second is physical exercise, coupled with music therapy. In order to more accurately assess their effect, in both groups of participants chilli cream was used to inflame the skin - this allowed people to be put under stress due to pain, as well as to cause inflammation on their body.
Although in the course of the experiment, the participants of both groups managed to calm down through the exercises, only the team that used the meditation reduced the inflammation of the skin.
Summing up the study, its director Melissa Rosencrantz said: "Today, many people who need medicines, for one reason or another, do not have the opportunity to receive them. In addition, there are often cases and side effects from various medications. Thus, meditation is good alternative and complement traditional treatment. "
