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Transcendental Meditation reduces the brain's reaction to pain
by Global Good News Staff Writer

Global Good News Translate This Article
17 August 2006

A groundbreaking study has revealed the efficacy of TM in dramatically curbing the experience of physical pain. Here are just some of the headlines of the many articles published just in the last week by the world press in response to this news.

8 Aug 2006

EurekAlert London, UK

Transcendental Meditation reduces the brain's reaction to pain

9 Aug 2006

CBC News, Canada

HealthCentral.com, Virginia, United States

USA Today

Transcendental Meditation lessens brain's pain response

CBS News

WebMD

Meditation may help brain handle pain

MedIndia, India

Pain tolerance improved by Transcendental Meditation

SeniorJournal.com, TX, USA

Senior Citizens may want to consider Transcendental Meditation

eMaxHealth.com, NC, USA

Transcendental Meditation reduces the brain's reaction to pain

RxPG NEWS, CA

Neuroimaging of meditation's effect on brain reactivity to pain

10 Aug 2006

Ivanhoe, FL

Meditation may ease the pain

South Asian Women's Forum, India

Transcendental meditation can lower your response to pain

11 Aug 2006

Innovations report, Germany

Transcendental Meditation reduces the brain's reaction to pain

12 Aug 2006

50 Connect, UK

Meditation reduces pain

13 Aug 2006

Medical News Today

Indianapolis Star, United States

Transcendental Meditation reduces the brain's reaction to pain

The Global Country of World Peace released the following article, summarizing the findings:

London, UK -

Twelve healthy long-term meditators who had been practising Transcendental Meditation for 30 years showed a 40-50% lower brain response to pain compared to 12 healthy controls, reported by a latest NeuroReport journal article, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Vol.17 No.12; 21 August 2006:1359-1363). Further, when the 12 controls then learned and practised Transcendental Meditation for 5 months, their brain responses to pain also decreased by a comparable 40-50%. www.neuroreport.com Current issue (Aug 9).

According to Orme-Johnson, lead author of this research, 'Prior research indicates that Transcendental Meditation creates a more balanced outlook on life and greater equanimity in reacting to stress. This study suggests that this is not just an attitudinal change, but a fundamental change in how the brain functions'.

Pain is part of everyone's experience and 50 million people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. Transcendental Meditation would have a long term effect in reducing responses in the affective component of the pain matrix. Future research could focus on other areas of the pain matrix and the possible effects of other meditation techniques to relieve pain.

Research study supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Facts on Pain

According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, chronic pain afflicts 50 million people worldwide, and acute pain is the most common reason people seek medical attention. Stress responses to untreated pain adversely impact virtually all systems of the body, especially the cardiovascular, endocrine, respiratory, and immune systems. The cost of treating pain is estimated at $100 billion each year in the US alone.

About Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation, derived from the ancient Vedic tradition in India, is taught through a standard protocol involving lectures, personal instruction and group meetings, according to background information in the article.

About Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

LWW is a unit of Wolters Kluwer Health, a group of leading information companies offering specialized publications and software in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, science, and related areas. Operating companies include Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Adis International, Ovid Technologies, and Facts and Comparisons

About the Authors

1) David Orme-Johnson, PhD, has been a pioneering researcher on meditation since 1970. He has over 100 publications on meditation in a wide variety of fields, including electroencephalography, psychophysiology, health, intelligence, creativity, drug and prison rehabilitation, higher states of consciousness, collective consciousness, quality of life, and conflict resolution. Dr. Orme-Johnson, now retired and lives in Seagrove Florida, was formerly Chairman of the Psychology Department and Dean of Research at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. David's vita http://www.truthabouttm.org/truth/Home/AboutDavidOrme-Johnson/index.cfm

2) Zhang-Hee Cho, PhD is the Director of the neuroimaging laboratory at the University of California at Irvine, where the study was conducted. Dr. Cho, a physicist by background, is widely recognized as a leading expert in neuroimaging. He was one of the inventors of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and is a member of the US National Academy of Science. Dr Cho is currently in Korea setting up an MRI there.

3) Robert Schneider, MD, is Director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, which sponsored the study through an NIH grant. The Institute is one of nine NIH-supported centers in the country for studying natural medicine, and the only one with specialization in minority health. Dr Schneider has many publications on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique on improving cardiovascular health in minority elderly.

Copyright 2006 Gobal Good News

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