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| Meditation may help reduce the risk of a heart attack in people at high risk, scientists find. Photo: GETTY |
By Emily Gosden
7:00AM BST 28 Jun 2011
2 Comments
Alleviate depression
Transcendental meditation has been shown to significantly reduce depressive symptoms. One study of 36 patients with clinical depression found that symptoms almost halved after just three months and the benefits were maintained over a year-long period.
Another study of 112 patients at high risk of depression found that depressive symptoms fell by a third over the initial three-month period.
Improve memory
People who meditate in the long-term have "significantly larger" hippocampi – the part of the brain associated with memory and learning – a study found. The research on 44 people, half of whom had practised meditation for between five and 46 years, found those who had meditated also had increased grey matter.
Reduce blood pressure and stroke risk
Researchers who tracked 201 people as they underwent either Transcendental Meditation or health education classes found that those who meditated had lower blood pressure and a 47% reducation in strokes, deaths and heart attacks, which they calculated together as one result.
Relieve pain
Meditation can have greater pain relieving effects than morphine, a study earlier this year found. Researchers found that just one hour of meditation training could reduce pain by nearly half.
Study participants' brain activity was examined as they were subjected to a painful heat-emitting device applied to one of their legs. They were monitored both before and after meditation training and pain ratings were reduced by between 11 and 93 per cent while meditating.
Meditation had the effect of reducing activity in an area of the brain that processes pain stimuli, while increasing activity in areas where the brain stores its experience of pain and comes up with coping mechanisms.
Relaxation
Meditation has always been touted as a way to relax, but a study least year found evidence to show that it really does work. Increased neuron connectivity was found in parts of the brain that were important for regulating emotional behaviour and dealing with conflict.
Reduce anxiety
Another study found that meditation decreases the levels of the stress-causing hormone, cortisol. Study subjects who were taught to meditate for 20 minutes a day for five days had measurably less anxiety and lower levels of the hormone than a group who were taught other relaxation techniques. Those who meditated also had lower levels of anger and fatigue.
And it's not just for humans...
...a study found that cats that were unwell became less stressed when they listened to yoga meditation music. The poorly felines calmed down and began to breathe more slowly when they were played the tunes.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8601795/How-meditation-could-help-your-health.html
