In the News

Compassion Meditation May Improve Physical And Emotional Responses To Psychological Stress

(from Medical News Today )

Data from a new study suggests that individuals who engage in compassion meditation may benefit by reductions in inflammatory and behavioral responses to stress that have been linked to depression and a number of medical illnesses.  "While much attention has been paid to meditation practices that emphasize calming the mind, improving focused attention or developing mindfulness, less is known about meditation practices designed to specifically foster compassion," says Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD, who designed and taught the meditation program used in the study.

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SICK AND DOWN

(from Science News)

When one of psychiatrist Andrew Miller’s patients asked about receiving the best drug available for treating hepatitis C, Miller said: “No way.” The patient — in his early 20s and accompanied by his mom to the appointment — had no job, few friends and a history of depression. While Miller knows that hepatitis C patients often benefit from the new generation of immune-boosting treatments, he’s keenly aware that those same immune therapies have a strong tendency to bring people down — and, in people predisposed to depression, dangerously down. Click here to read the rest of the article.

Health Watch: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

(from Fox5 News Atlanta)

It's a tired-to-your-bones feeling no amount of sleep can erase, a mental fog you just can't shake. That's how sufferers describe a mysterious illness known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Click to read the rest of the article.

View Fox5 video clip.

Mind/Body: Beating a Retreat (from Psychology Today)

A connection between inflammation and isolation.

"Going back to the cave" is how psychiatrist Andrew Miller describes one's retreat into solitude and darkness when injured or ill. Mounting evidence shows how ingrained the energy-preserving survival mechanism is: Inflammation, the body's response to injury, actually alters levels of serotonin and other brain chemicals, causing behaviors matching those of clinical depression. This pathway could explain why depression evolved, and it's catalyzing a revolution in drugs to treat the disease. Click to read the rest of the article.

Meditation May Help Depression

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on a study inspired by the Dalai Lama that suggests meditation may fight depression. View CNN video clip.

The Mind and Life Conference

Researchers Richard Davidson, Helen Mayberg, Charles Nemeroff, Charles Raison and Zindel Segal presented findings from multiple successful neuroscience... Click to read the rest of the article.

Zen meditation, a Buddhist practice centered on attentional and postural self-regulation, has been speculated to bring about beneficial long-term effects for the individual, ranging from stress reduction to improvement of cognitive function. In this study, we examined how the regular practice of meditation may affect the normal age-related decline of cerebral gray matter volume and attentional performance observed in healthy individuals. Click here for more information.

People who are depressed are more likely to have exaggerated inflammatory responses to stressful situations, according to the results of a study released this week. Now, researchers want to know if that inflammation is behind the link between depression and heart disease ... or if it's the actual cause of depression. Investigators from Emory University in Atlanta studied 28 otherwise healthy men. Half of the participants were diagnosed with major depression while the other half was depression-free. Click here for article.