Meditation can stave off cold and flu: Study

[Jessie Fong]

An interesting article relating meditation with colds and flu.  I am not into meditation so I cannot vouch for it.  Anyone out there care to shed some light into this?



Meditation can stave off cold and flu: Study
PTI, Nov 16, 2012

London, UK -- Meditation can be extremely effective at preventing winter ailments like cold and flu, according to a new research.

<< Meditation as antidote for flu?

Adults who meditated or did moderately intense exercise, such as a brisk walk, for eight weeks suffered fewer colds than those who did nothing, according to a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Previous research has found that mindfulness meditation may improve mood, decrease stress, and boost immune function.

Some of the earliest references to meditation are found in the Hindu Vedas. Around the 6th to 5th centuries BC, other forms of meditation developed in Taoist China and Buddhist India.

The new study divided 149 people into three groups. One performed mindful meditation, a type of meditation that essentially involves focusing the mind on the present, the Daily Mail reported.


 Another group jogged regularly for eight weeks while the third group did nothing.
The researchers then followed the health of the volunteers through the winter from September to May, although they didn’t check whether or not people carried on exercising or meditating after the eight-week period.

The participants were observed for cold and flu symptoms such as a runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing, and sore throat.

Nasal wash samples were collected and analysed three days after the symptoms began.

The study, found that meditators missed 76 per cent fewer days of work from September through to May than those who did nothing. Those who had exercised missed 48 per cent fewer days during this period.

In addition, mindful meditation can reduce the duration or severity of acute respiratory infections such by up to 50 per cent, and exercise by up to 40 per cent.

According to the website Scientific America, those who had exercised or meditated suffered for an average of five days; colds of participants in the control group lasted eight.

In addition, tests confirmed that the self-reported length of colds correlated with the level of antibodies in the body, which indicate the presence of a virus.

“Nothing has previously been shown to prevent acute respiratory infections,” said lead author Dr Bruce Barrett, a family medicine doctor and associate professor at the University.

“A lot of previous information suggested that meditation and exercise might have prevention benefits, but no high-quality, randomised trial had been done,” Barrett said.

“Flu shots are partially effective, but only work for three strains of flu each year. The apparent 40 to 50 per cent benefit of mindfulness training is a very important finding, as is the apparent 30 to 40 per cent benefit of exercise training. If this pans out in future research, the impact could be substantive indeed,” Barrett said.

The study was published in the Annals of Family Medicine.



read more on .... http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=7,11187,0,0,1,0

[buddhalovely]

I can see how mindfulness meditation would reduce the number of sick days taken by employees. Other studies have shown that the practice strengthens the immune system. So, whether it is because of the cold and flu, or some other illness, those who meditate regularly are generally healthier. In addition, I've seen cost-effectiveness studies where companies saw dramatic decreases in their health care expenditures in the first year after implementing a health and wellness program that included meditation as one of it's main components. Charles A. Francis The Mindfulness Meditation Institute

Scientists have been aware for decades of the mind/body/immune system link. An early experiment used rats, they were fed a glucose substance laced with a drug that induced vomiting it was a known immune suppressant, some of the rats became ill and died. The surviving rats were then given the solution without the drug, as expected some rats still vomited, but what surprised the scientists was that rats still became ill and died.Their nervous system affected their immunity. Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of this science. Evidence has shown that positive thinking, optimism, meditation, prayer, hypnotherapy, mindfulness and techniques like guided imagery, with a combination of good nutrition and moderate exercise, promotes the release of beneficial hormones which in turn boosts the immune system function, negates the damaging effect of stress hormones on the body this reduces frequency and severity of viral infections, and may even have implications in more serious illness.

Wouldn't it be good it it was taught all the way through school life. What a difference it could make to the world.

[Tenzin K]

Meditation and exercise may minimize the occurrence, length and severity of the flu or common cold, according to preliminary findings of a new study.

Those in the meditation group focused on becoming aware of their senses, emotions and thoughts during a 45-minute daily practice and weekly two-and-a-half-hour group sessions. The exercise group walked briskly and jogged daily for 45 minutes as well as in their two-and-a-half-hour weekly workouts, which included moderately intensive exercise on stationary bicycles and treadmills.

Participants who meditated on a regular basis reported a combined total of 257 days of the common cold or flu; people who exercised regularly reported a total of 241 days of illness; and the control group had 453 days in which they had cold and flu symptoms.

During the eight-month study, the meditating group had only missed 16 days of work due to the flu or common cold, followed by the exercise group at 32. Those in the control group missed 67 days.

Participants self-reported their illness episodes with a scale that required at least two of the following symptoms: a runny nose, a plugged nose, sneezing or a scratchy throat.

The meditation group reported 27 illness episodes, the exercise group had 26 episodes and the control group reported 40 episodes. Illness severity was measured through a daily survey, which documents symptoms such as headaches, body aches and fever.

[fruven]

Meditation is not a play thing. It is serious tool for curing our mental and physical health. Using drug-based medication for whatever ills and sicknesses is play thing, playing with our lives, profiting from ignorant public. We need to move higher to relief other sickness and suffering. Instead of costly medical drugs which can sometimes bring more sickness and indirectly forcing people to work constantly to pay for their medical bills leaving them with nothing else we can teach meditation which have been used centuries ago in the past. Once you teach meditation to someone and he learn it well he can always use it for his good health. It is not good for business though.

[pgdharma]

Researchers at Harvard Medical School discovered that, in long-term practitioners of relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation, far more ''disease-fighting genes'' were active, compared to those who practiced no form of relaxation as deep relaxation changes our bodies on a genetic level. It is said that the more regularly these techniques are practiced, the more deeply rooted the benefits will be.

These are just some of the scientifically proven benefits:-

1. INCREASED IMMUNITY

Relaxation appears to boost immunity in recovering cancer patients. A study at the Ohio State University found that progressive muscular relaxation, when practiced daily, reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence. In another study at Ohio State, a month of relaxation exercises boosted natural killer cells in the elderly, giving them a greater resistance to tumors and to viruses.

2. EMOTIONAL BALANCE

Emotional balance means to be free of all the neurotic behavior that results from the existence of a tortured and traumatized ego. This is very hard to achieve fully, but meditation certainly is the way to cure such neurosis and unhealthy emotional states. As one’s consciousness is cleansed of emotionally soaked memories, not only does great freedom abound, but also great balance. As one’s responses then are not colored by the burdens one carries, but are instead true, direct and appropriate.

3. INCREASED FERTILITY

A study at the University of Western Australia found that women are more likely to conceive during periods when they are relaxed rather than stressed. A study at Trakya University, in Turkey, also found that stress reduces sperm count and motility, suggesting relaxation may also boost male fertility.

4. RELIEVES IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

When patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome began practicing meditation twice daily, their symptoms of bloating, diarrhea and constipation improved significantly. The meditation was so effective the researchers at the State University of New York recommended it as an effective treatment.

5. LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE

A study at Harvard Medical School found that meditation lowered blood pressure by making the body less responsive to stress hormones, in a similar way to blood pressure-lowering medication. Meanwhile a British Medical Journal report found that patients trained how to relax had significantly lower blood pressure.

6. ANTI-INFLAMATORY

Stress leads to inflammation, a state linked to heart disease, arthritis, asthma and skin conditions such as psoriasis, say researchers at Emory University in the US. Relaxation can help prevent and treat such symptoms by switching off the stress response. In this way, one study at McGill University in Canada found that meditation clinically improved the symptoms of psoriasis.

7. CALMNESS

The simple difference between those who meditate and those who do not, is that for a meditative mind the thought occurs but is witnessed, while for an ordinary mind, the thought occurs and is the boss. So in both minds, an upsetting thought can occur, but for those who meditate it is just another thought, which is seen as such and is allowed to blossom and die, while in the ordinary mind the thought instigates a storm which rages on and on.

[icy]

This study is true and accurate.  Many years ago when I did intense meditation I was not affected by the flu epidemic whilst all my family members who did not practise meditation were affected by the flu badly.  Before practising meditation my immunity to flu was extremely low.  Anyone with flu had just to sneeze in front or near to me and the next day I would contract the virus and had to suffer from flu. 

When we do the meditation practice of Lama Tsongkhapa we tap into the healing energy to activate chakras flowing in our body to heal ourselves; clear negative energy and receive positive energy.  It clears our negative karma to enable us transform our lives as well.  With continuous practice, our black aura will change to good aura like Lama Tsongkhapa - golden luminous light.  The eventual goal is to attain the qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa who has immeasurable compassion, stainless wisdom and powerful destroyer of maras.

[sonamdhargey]

A Special Healing Meditation

From a teaching given by Venerable Thupten Rinpoche in Christchurch on 2 March 1997, and at the Dhargyey Buddhist Centre on 9 March 1997. This transcript was taken from the latter teaching. The teaching was translated on both occasions by Losang Dawa. © Copyright Thupten Tulku & Dhargyey Buddhist Centre, 1997.

Today I would like to teach you a type of meditation that experienced lamas have advised will help you regain energy and power and strength. It can be particularly useful when you are sick.

You can do this meditation in the usual way, sitting up on your cushion. Or, if you are sick, you can do it lying on your back on your bed.

The first visualization is as follows. If you are lying on your back, imagine in the space above you, not too far above, a brilliant full-moon-like disk. If you are doing the visualization sitting up, imagine this moon-like disk just above your head. The size of the white disk is up to you.

This white disk has a Tibetan syllable HUM (see image) with the top fixed into the disk. The HUM can be red in colour. Even if you don't know Tibetan, try to visualize the Tibetan letter HUM. What's wrong with imagining the English letters HUM? Because these are written side-ways, whereas the parts of the Tibetan syllable HUM are written vertically. This has its benefit.

You need to spend as long as is necessary on this, until you have gained a clear visualization of the white moon-like disk and the red HUM. Lamas have advised that you need to have as clear and vivid a visualization of this as if it were not an imagined thing but a real thing -- some-thing that you can almost grab with your own hands.

Next, imagine that the red HUM emits five coloured rays of light -- white, yellow, red, blue and green. This band of coloured light comes down to you and falls on your body. As the light touches your body, feel strongly that your body also has attained the state of that band of light, so that it becomes extremely resplendent, clear, and extremely light. As your body transforms into a body of coloured rays of light, extremely clear and striking in colour, feel that your body has completely overcome the lethargy and heaviness of the sickness you were experiencing a while ago. Now feel that your body has become extremely supple and light, as if it were a floating feather in a light breeze.

This is the first way of visualizing to overcome sickness or discomfort of the body.

The second visualization is the same as before until you reach the part where you feel that the five-coloured band of light-rays comes down to you. Then, rather than visualizing that your body becomes a band of coloured light, imagine that from the top down, the rays of light keep pushing on all the undesirable elements in your body -- undesirable elements that have been responsible for your sickness, for the heaviness of your body, etc. All the undesirable elements of your body are pushed downward. As the band of light works its way through from the top down, feel that finally your body is being completely rid of the unwanted, sickening elements.

The third type of visualization is a special-ized healing process. All three are ways of healing but the third is specially targeted. Suppose you have a sickness in one part of the body -- a tumour for instance: imagine that all the energy of the multicoloured rays of light is focused onto the affected organ, and extinguishes the malignant elements. Then feel that the sickness melts into light and finally disappears.

If you do this kind of healing practice through visualization, through meditative techniques, lamas have said that it has an impact. Of course you won't notice an effect right after you've started, but if you do it for quite some time -- and if you have the need for such a healing process, of course you will do it for quite some time -- lamas have said that it will have an effect.

These explanations about healing techniques that one can do oneself in one's own meditation, were taught by lamas not just because they were in the texts, but because they were known to work. They were taught because in the past they had been undertaken by people in need, who did them just as they were explained in the texts, and experienced positive benefit. The explanations were verified by the experience of people who needed to do this meditation and who did it.

I thought I would describe this healing practice to you, thinking that maybe someone would benefit from it. Even if it doesn't benefit anyone, there's no harm in telling it to you.

Source: http://dbc.dharmakara.net/trt5-971.html

[RedLantern]

Meditation can be extremely effective at preventing ailments like cold and flu.Adults who meditate or did moderately intense exercise such as brisk walk for 8 weeks ,suffer ed fewer colds than those who did nothing.
Previous research has found that mindfulness meditation may improve mood,decrease stress and boost immune function.In addition,test confirmed that self reported length of colds correlated with the level of antibodies in the body which indicate  the presence of a virus.A lot of previous information shows that meditation and exercise might have prevention benefit but no high quality,randomized trial had been done.
Flu shots are partially effective,but only work for 3 flu each year.The apparent 40 to 50% benefit of mindful meditation training is a very important finding,as it is the apparent 30 to 40% benefit of exercise training.If this pairs out in future research the impact could be substantive indeed.

[Ensapa]

Here's a relevant article:

Meditation prevents winter ailments
by Emi Hailey Hayakawa, BTN, Nov 28, 2012
Seoul, South Korea -- According to a new research published in the “Annals of Family Medicine,” it is proven that Buddhist meditation is effective at preventing winter ailments such as colds and influenza.
On November 16th, PTI India reported that adults who meditated or did moderately intense exercise, such as a brisk walk, for eight weeks suffered fewer colds than those who did nothing, according to a study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The new study divided 149 people into three groups: One performed mindful meditation, another group jogged regularly for eight weeks, while the third group did nothing.

The researchers then followed the health of the volunteers through the winter from September to May, although they didn’t check whether or not people carried on exercising or meditating after the eight-week period.


 The participants were observed for cold and flu symptoms such as a runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing, and sore throat. Nasal wash samples were collected and analyzed three days after the symptoms began.
The study, found that meditators missed 76% fewer days of work from September through to May than those who did nothing. Those who had exercised missed 48 per cent fewer days during this period.

In addition, mindful meditation can reduce the duration or severity of acute respiratory infections such by up to 50%, and exercise by up to 40%.

[Big Uncle]

I love it. Meditation is a such a powerful tool to maintain our sanity and now, we find out that it is good for our health. I guess, people already know that but it is now, backed up by science. This goes to show how interconnected our mind is with our bodies. I think that this connection is useful to exploit and it shows that happiness and suffering is just an experience of the mind. And if we realize the causes and conditions, we are able to change and transform all of our experiences. Even difficult circumstances can be transformed into an experience to collect merit.                                                                 

[Ensapa]

Logically, the mind controls the body and the body is vulnerable to positive and negative energies. If we are negative all the time, then our bodies will also go on that direction. If we are positive however, it will help assist us in healing. When we focus on something with our minds, we draw attention, blood flow and positive energy to it which is why it seems to help aid in sickness and so forth. This is the power of the mind, but most people would rather use it for other purposes.