Meditation May Help Lower Anxiety While Warding Off Illness
Meditation May Help Lower Anxiety While Warding Off Illness
Study: Impact on anxiety, immunity may help explain its effect on health
Cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD, has spent the last 30 years studying the effects of meditation and is founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He tells WebMD that the study offers further evidence that meditation produces measurable benefits. But he rejects the idea that any one type of meditation or relaxation technique is inherently better than another.
"Any practice that can evoke the relaxation response is of benefit, be it meditation, yoga, breathing or repetitive prayer," Benson tells WebMD. "There is no reason to believe that one is better than the other. The key is repetition, but the repetition can be a word, sound, mantra, prayer, breathing or movement."
Benson says stress management can benefit 60% to 90% of people who see doctors for illness. It is increasingly being added to traditional therapies for the treatment of patients with life-threatening illnesses like cancer and AIDS.
"The relaxation response helps decrease metabolism, lowers blood pressure and heart rate, and slows breathing and brain waves," he says. "Just about any condition that is either caused or made worse by stress can be helped with meditation."
Meditation May Help Ward Off Illness
Study: Impact on anxiety, immunity may help explain its effect on health
Cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD, has spent the last 30 years studying the effects of meditation and is founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He tells WebMD that the study offers further evidence that meditation produces measurable benefits. But he rejects the idea that any one type of meditation or relaxation technique is inherently better than another.
"Any practice that can evoke the relaxation response is of benefit, be it meditation, yoga, breathing or repetitive prayer," Benson tells WebMD. "There is no reason to believe that one is better than the other. The key is repetition, but the repetition can be a word, sound, mantra, prayer, breathing or movement."
Benson says stress management can benefit 60% to 90% of people who see doctors for illness. It is increasingly being added to traditional therapies for the treatment of patients with life-threatening illnesses like cancer and AIDS.
"The relaxation response helps decrease metabolism, lowers blood pressure and heart rate, and slows breathing and brain waves," he says. "Just about any condition that is either caused or made worse by stress can be helped with meditation."
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