Can one meditate their GI symptoms away? In August 2015, Collective Evolution published an article which was titled “Harvard Study Reveals What Meditation Does to Gastrointestinal (Bowel) Disorders.” According to the article, in a study that was published in PLOS One, researchers found that the relaxation response, which is described as a “physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress,”(Benson, n.d.) decreases inflammation of suffers of irritable bowel disease (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Taking a look at the actual study, it does show that engaging in Relaxation Response-Mind Body Interventions (RR-MBI) does have a significant positive effect on decreasing pain and quality of life for the study participants.
While the article produces much excitement and potential about the use of RR-MBI in managing symptoms of chronic illnesses, the research design of the study is weak. The fact that it was not randomized means that the study could have a high amount of bias as a result. It was an uncontrolled study, so we cannot clearly see how much of a difference RR-MBI had in groups who received the intervention and groups who didn’t receive the intervention. Even the researchers admitted that because the study isn’t randomized, they cannot determine if the reported changes had to do with RR-MBI (Kuo et al., 2015). We can only compare across those who have IBS and those who have IBD. In addition, the number of participants was small(only 48), mostly white (95%) and female (67%) (Kuo et al., 2015). Because of this, it would be an overgeneralization to say that meditation will benefit all sufferers of IBS and IBD.
The article was erroneous in saying that it was an eight-week study; it was actually a nine-week study. Given the study was rather short, it can only be suggested that RR-MBI had a positive effect on decreasing pain and increasing quality of life. However, this was more the case for IBD patients than IBS patients during the follow-up period. Studies over a longer time period need to be done to see if there are any definitive long-term effects for both groups. That being said, this was the first study done of its kind and the results elicits the need for further studies.
While this was a short-term study with research design flaws, practitioners still can find this information useful for IBS or IBD patients who suffer from inflammation. Not all patients who suffer from IBS or IBD are keen on merely depending on medication to manage their symptoms. Practitioners could suggest RR-MBI techniques to those patients in helping mitigate their symptoms, but if they do so, it is recommended that they have the patient create a log in which they record their pain level, RR-MBI activities, and prescription use for pain management along with scheduling a follow up appointment to properly see if this intervention is actually effective.
SOURCES
Benson, H. (n.d.). RelaxationResponse.org. Retrieved from http://www.relaxationresponse.org.
Kuo B., Bhasin, M., Jacquart, J., Scult, M.A., Slipp, L, Riklin, E.I.K., Lepoutre, V.,…Denniger, J., (2015). Genomic and Clinical Effects Associated with a Relaxation Response Mind-Body Intervention in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. PLOS ONE 10(4) 1-26.
Walia, A (5 August 2015). Harvard Study Reveals What Meditation Literally Does to Gastrointestinal (Bowel) Disorders. Collective Evolution. Retrieved from
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/08/05/harvard-study-reveals-what-meditation-literally-does-to-gastrointestinal-bowel-disorders/.
Meditation and other variations of that sort have often been suggested as a treatment method for many different types of chronic pain. As an athletic trainer, I often hear of these western medicine panaceas being used as an adjunct treatment for chronic low back pain or tendinitises. I personally think much of the effectiveness of meditation treatments depends on the individual person and his or her personality. Many people are strongly affected by the “mind over body” mentality, and for this type of person I think engaging in RR-MBI would be somewhat more effective. However, this study is the first I have heard of this treatment method for GI disorders and I think it’s an interesting approach. More research is definitely need, but perhaps a combination treatment approach involving both medication and meditation would prove effective.
This is a concept that I believe some people would get on board with. Meditation is to relax your mind and body, but then throw in this idea of of having a nervous stomach, which can lead to IBS & IBD, all go away with the simple action of meditation. I think if I read this article and did not further research, I would probably try it. I do agree that there are some flaws in this study. I would love to see more participants partake in this so that the results could be more concrete and not an overgeneralization. As well as more men so that it is not a female dominated study. It needs to be randomized so that biasing does not take place and so that it can be determined if the reported changes had to do with RR-MBI. I would love to explore this more to see if the researchers took the time to carry out this study after edits and revisions, and if the results came back positive, that meditation does limit IBS and IBD.
This was an interesting study that could possibly benefit a number of people with IBS and IBD if adjustments were made to how the study is conducted. Long-term effects would definitely be beneficial since it tends to take longer than a few weeks to make something apart of one’s lifestyle. Meditation is shown to be helpful at improving the immune system as well, which plays a role in IBD. Although meditation does not seem to be able to be an effective treatment just yet, it would be useful to encourage patients to try it out because it could possibly influence them in other aspects of their lives as well.
This concept is extremely interesting. As an Athletic Trainer I have been able to experience the use of meditation first hand with my athletes and patients. During my undergrad career I was actually able to work in a physical therapy clinic that specifically specialized in treating patients with IBD and IBS with a combination of meditation and different pelvic floor exercises. When I first started I was very skeptical, but I can honestly say the positive results I experienced with my patients truly improved their quality of life. I agree that the research on this topic is limited, but I definitely think that it is an area of study that should be seriously considered in the future. I think it would be awesome to continue to discover new ways to help patients improve their quality of life when they thought there was no better treatment possible. I am a firm believer of being able to back up my treatments with solid research and scientific reasoning, but I am also a big advocate of patient care. Sometimes if something works and we can not yet explain the exact science behind why, as long as there are no risks for the patient, I am always game for trying something new!!
There has been a lot of recent research into the connection between gut bacteria and the human brain. If gut health can be linked to mental health then I would speculate that relationship might be reciprocal. Through meditation we are able lower anxiety and calm the body so it would make sense that that effect would pass to our body functions. An Oxford University Study looked at probiotics and found a connection to consumption and lower levels of cortisol. I think it is an interesting connection (in both directions) and hope it is explored more. You make some good points about the limitations of this study, hopefully more can be done to explore the link from this preventative angle. I like that science is beginning to explore less traditional methods to address health concerns.