Meditation Could Help Alleviate Gut Disorder Symptoms

By: Esha Dey Published: May 13, 2015 07:37am ET on LiveScience.com. If you thought meditation was only good for your emotional well-being, think again. A new study shows that meditation may actually alleviate the symptoms of two gut disorders by altering certain genetic signals. The study looked at people who had either irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or irritable bowel disease (IBD). It found that doing yoga and meditating regularly for two months eased the symptoms associated with the two gut disorders, the researchers said. This mind-and-body intervention seemed to work by inducing genetic changes in the body, the study authors said. The findings suggest that stress-relieving meditation can suppress the activities of certain genes responsible for causing inflammation and other immune system problems in patients suffering from IBS or IBD, the study stated. Previous research has shown that meditation can change people's gene expression in some ways, but the new study is among the first to show an impact on gene expression in patients with a specific disease, said lead researcher Dr. Braden Kuo, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The study used a mind-body technique called Relaxation Response, which a Harvard University doctor developed in the 1970s. The new findings are especially interesting given that researchers have established a relationship between stress and digestive problems. Research has shown that psychological trauma can c...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news