Can Mindfulness Improve Our Health?

Mindfulness is broadly defined as an acute attention to our surroundings and the capability to avoid an overly reactive response to said stimuli. This psychological technique has garnered significant interest in recent years as people struggle to keep pace with an increasingly faster pace of social, economic and technological change. Mindfulness can bring focus to our lives and it can be used to improve our health too.

Mindfulness and Heart Health

For many years, heart disease has been the number one killer of people and it still accounts for one in every four deaths! So, if you can adopt an approach that lowers that risk, it’s worth further investigation. One study assigned participants with pre-hypertension a mindfulness meditation and muscle relaxing course or drug treatment. Those that took the course had a greater reduction in their diastolic and systolic blood pressure. This seems to suggest that those at an increased risk for heart disease were more likely to reduce their blood pressure using mindfulness techniques. A different study was conducted with people that already had heart disease. The participants were randomly assigned to an online meditation program or a normal heart disease treatment waitlist. Those assigned to the online program made significant improvements. These were measured with the six minute walking test that measures cardiovascular capacity. In fact, the mindful group has slower heart rates than the participants that were waiting for their regular treatment. In a review of random control studies, it was found that mindfulness could have mixed effects on physical symptoms that are associated with heart disease. More recent preliminary research published by the American Heart Association found that there is sufficient evidence that suggests that mindfulness can be an effective adjunct for coronary disease prevention and treatment. Regular medication may increase the respiratory sinus arrhythmia that is a natural minor variation in the heart rate that occurs when we breathe. This can be an indicator of improved heart health and in the event of a heart attack it improves the chances of survival significantly.

Mindfulness and Psychological Pain Reduction

One of the areas where mindfulness is probably better understood is our psychological well-being. This indirectly affects our physical health too and even minor changes can create synergistic effects from the psychological to physiological and back again. There is plenty of research that suggests a link between mindfulness and stress reduction. The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program by Jon-Kabat Zinn has produced a large body of research on this topic. Mindfulness can help people to cope with feelings of anxiety, depression, stress and pain. These feelings often accompany periods of illness and chronic conditions. A prime example would be a drug addiction that has its roots in a physiological craving for a substance that may temporarily relieve psychological torment. However, mindfulness could be an adjunct to a treatment for the addiction by helping people to understand and deal with their cravings. This is especially useful to reduce the risk of relapse after the user has been weaned off alcohol or drugs. In a similar fashion mindfulness can be helpful for people that may be struggling with overeating issues too.

Mindfulness and Aging

Some people experience Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline as they age. This typically manifests in a loss of short term memory and a reduction in cognitive flexibility. Even those with Alzheimer’s disease could benefit from mindfulness which appears to slow that cognitive decline. A study conducted in 2016 found that those engaged in either mindfulness meditation, relaxation treatment, cognitive stimulation therapy or no treatment at all, had different responses to cognitive tests carried out over a two year period. Those engaged in cognitive stimulation and relaxation training experience benefits over those with no treatment. But, those engaged with mindfulness meditation had much better cognitive scores after the two years. Another study conduction in 2017 took a closer look at brain function in older adults that were happy and healthy. These people were all 55-75 years old and they were given either a control activity or focused breathing meditation over eight weeks. Then they were given a Stroop test which measures attention and control over emotions. During the test the participants' brains were monitored with electroencephalography. Those engaged in focused breathing meditation had increased activity in parts of the brain associated with focus over the active control group. This preliminary research seems to suggest that mindfulness can mitigate the effects of cognitive decline, such as attention, memory, executive functioning and processing. 

Mindfulness and Immune Response Improvements

When our bodies come into contact with disease-causing organisms such as viruses our blood is flooded with immune cells. These cells include: proteins, neutrophils, T-cells, immunoglobulins and more that fight infection and disease in a variety of ways. Mindfulness meditation appears to increase the T-cell levels and activity in people that are suffering from breast cancer and HIV. in fact, mindfulness seems to improve a number of biomarkers that are linked to disease progression. A study of elderly people assigned to eight weeks of MBSR or a moderate exercise program yielded some surprising results. Those that practiced mindfulness had higher levels of the interleukin-8 protein in their nasal secretions which is indicative of immune function improvements. A second study found increased levels of the interleukin-10 protein in mindfulness meditation practitioners that had been diagnosed with colitis. A third study found that patients engaged in mindfulness meditation healed from wounds faster which is regulated by our immune systems. There are inflammation markers too, the C-reactive protein which can harm health at elevated levels was reduced in participants that took the online MBSR course.

Mindfulness and Cell Aging

Cells divide repeatedly throughout our life and this division can be more rapid during bouts of disease or stress. This leads to cell aging, the telomere proteins at the end of our chromosomes appear to be positively impacted by mindfulness meditation. Those that engage in long-term meditation seem to have greater telomere lengths for longevity. Some breast cancer survivors that took the MBSR course maintained their telomere length over those on the waitlist. Supportive therapies are also helpful and more study is needed to fully understand how and if mindfulness can mitigate cell aging.