We’re
often told that being happy, meditating and mindfulness can benefit our
health. We all have that one friend of a friend who says they cured
their terminal illness by quitting their job and taking up surfing — but
until now there’s been very little scientific evidence to back up these
claims.
Now researchers in Canada have found the first evidence
to suggest that support groups that encourage meditation and yoga can
actually alter the cellular activity of cancer survivors.
Their study, which was published in the journal Cancer last week (Article first published online: 3 NOV 2014), is one of the first to suggest that a mind-body connection really does exist.
The team found that the telomeres —
the protein caps at the end of our chromosomes that determine how
quickly a cell ages — stayed the same length in cancer survivors who
meditated or took part in support groups over a three-month period.
On
the other hand, the telomeres of cancer survivors who didn’t
participate in these groups shortened during the three-month study.
Scientists
still don’t know for sure whether telomeres are involved in regulating
disease, but there is early evidence that suggests shortened telomeres
are associated with the likelihood of surviving several diseases,
including breast cancer, as well as cellular ageing. And longer telomeres are generally thought to help protect us from disease.
"We
already know that psychosocial interventions like mindfulness
meditation will help you feel better mentally, but now for the first
time we have evidence that they can also influence key aspects of your
biology," said Linda E. Carlson, a psychosocial research and the lead
investigator at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, in a press release. She conducted the study alongside scientists from the University of Calgary.
"It was surprising that we could see any difference in telomere length at all over the three-month period studied," said Carlson.
"Further research is needed to better quantify these potential health
benefits, but this is an exciting discovery that provides encouraging
news."
As part of the research, 88 breast cancer survivors who had
completed their treatment more than three months ago were monitored.
The average age of the participants was 55, and to be eligible to
participate in the study they all had to have experienced significant
levels of emotional distress.
They were separated into three
groups — one was asked to attend eight weekly, 90-minute group sessions
that provided instructions on mindfulness meditation and gentle yoga.
These participants were asked to practice meditation and yoga at home
for 45 minutes daily.
The second group met up for 90 minutes each
week for the three months, and were encouraged to talk openly about
their concerns and feelings.
The third control group simply attended one six-hour stress management seminar.
Before and after the study, all participants had their blood analysed and their telomere length measured.
Both
groups who attended the support groups had maintained their telomere
length over the three-month period, while the telomeres of the third
group had shortened. The two groups who'd attended the regular meetings
also reported lower stress levels and better moods.
Although this
is pretty exciting research, it’s still not known whether these benefits
will be long-term or what's causing this biological effect. Further
research is now needed to find out whether these results are replicable
across a larger number of participants, and what they mean for our
health long-term.
But it’s a pretty huge first step towards
understanding more about how our mental state affects our health. And
it's part of a growing body of research out there — a separate group of
Italian scientists published in PLOS ONE a few weeks ago also showed that mindfulness training can change the structure of our brains.
Of course for many believers in meditation, this discovery probably isn't that exciting. Research back
in the '80s had suggested that cancer patients who join support groups
are more likely to survive. But as we like to say, peer review or it
didn't happen.
We’re (sceptically) excited.
Source: EurekAlert
