NPR (3 minute audio program) - Painkillers can be effective because they block pain signals from getting to the brain. But distracting the brain from pain is an alternative method for intervening with it, especially for anxiety-provoking medical treatments. (Listen to the program...)
NPR - When it comes to back pain, there are alternatives to surgery and medications. (Read the full article...) NPR - Mindfulness, a concept at the heart of Buddhist meditation, is the basis of an eight-week course that's showing some success at helping people manage pain. (Read the full article...) NPR - In his 20 years as director of the hypertension program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Randy Zusman has maintained a rather traditional approach. Lately, Zusman has added a new recommendation: meditation. It's based on what he learned from a recent, three-month study he helped direct in conjunction with Boston's Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. (Read the full article...) Association for Psychological Science - The role of stress in just about everything. (Read the full article...) Science Daily - Everyday experience and psychology research both indicate that paying close attention to one thing can keep you from noticing something else. (Read the full article...) Science Daily - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say that practicing even small doses of daily meditation may improve focus and performance. (Read the full article...) Science Daily - In a small but highly provocative study, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has found, for the first time, that a short program in "mindfulness meditation" produced lasting positive changes in both the brain and the function of the immune system. (Read the full article...) Science Daily - Meditation is known to alter resting brain patterns, suggesting long lasting brain changes, but a new study by researchers from Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows meditation also is associated with increased cortical thickness. (Read the full article...) Compassion Meditation May Improve Physical And Emotional Responses To Psychological Stress12/5/2008 Science Daily - Data from a new study suggests that individuals who engage in compassion meditation may benefit by reductions in inflammatory and behavioral responses to stress that have been linked to depression and a number of medical illnesses. (Read the full article...) |