Health & Medicine
Insomnia Inflammation Improved With Movement Meditation Tai Chi
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Nov 05, 2015 04:12 PM EST
The movement meditation tai chi as well as cognitive behavioral therapy may help reduce insomnia-related inflammation, according to a recent study.
During this study, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles recruited 123 adults over the age of 55 with insomnia who were randomized to receive one of 3 types of classes, including the following: cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, the movement meditation tai chi, or a sleep seminar (the control condition).
Researchers found that cognitive behavioral therapy helped reduce insomnia related symptoms via a systemic marker of inflammation known as the C-reactive protein. Furthermore, they discovered it reversed activation of molecular inflammatory signaling pathways--all of which were maintained over a 16-month follow-up period.
The study authors also discovered that Tai chi reduced inflammation at the cellular level from insomnia-related stress by reversing activation of inflammatory signaling pathways. Similar to the cognitive behavioral therapy, reduction of cellular inflammation was also maintained during the 16-month follow-up period, researchers say.
Those participants assigned to the sleep seminar classes showed no significant changes in inflammatory markers, as expected.
These results provide an evidence-based molecular framework to understand how behavioral interventions that target sleep may reduce inflammation and promote health.
"Behavioral interventions that target sleep reduce inflammation and represent a third pillar, along with diet and physical activity, to promote health and possibly reduce the risk of age-related morbidities including depression," concluded Dr. Michael Irwin, who conducted this work along with his colleagues at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the University of California Los Angeles, in a news release.
The study is published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
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TagsHealth, Human, University of California Los Angeles, Insomnia, Inflammation, Sleep, TaiChi, Seminar, Control, C-Reactive, Follow-Up, Professional, Adults ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Nov 05, 2015 04:12 PM EST
The movement meditation tai chi as well as cognitive behavioral therapy may help reduce insomnia-related inflammation, according to a recent study.
During this study, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles recruited 123 adults over the age of 55 with insomnia who were randomized to receive one of 3 types of classes, including the following: cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, the movement meditation tai chi, or a sleep seminar (the control condition).
Researchers found that cognitive behavioral therapy helped reduce insomnia related symptoms via a systemic marker of inflammation known as the C-reactive protein. Furthermore, they discovered it reversed activation of molecular inflammatory signaling pathways--all of which were maintained over a 16-month follow-up period.
The study authors also discovered that Tai chi reduced inflammation at the cellular level from insomnia-related stress by reversing activation of inflammatory signaling pathways. Similar to the cognitive behavioral therapy, reduction of cellular inflammation was also maintained during the 16-month follow-up period, researchers say.
Those participants assigned to the sleep seminar classes showed no significant changes in inflammatory markers, as expected.
These results provide an evidence-based molecular framework to understand how behavioral interventions that target sleep may reduce inflammation and promote health.
"Behavioral interventions that target sleep reduce inflammation and represent a third pillar, along with diet and physical activity, to promote health and possibly reduce the risk of age-related morbidities including depression," concluded Dr. Michael Irwin, who conducted this work along with his colleagues at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the University of California Los Angeles, in a news release.
The study is published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Related Articles
Are More Seniors Using Mobility Devices?
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone