Irritable bowel syndrome: meditation would ease the pain
May 27, 2011 – Practicing mindfulness meditation would reduce pain and other symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome.
This is what emerges from a small American study1, conducted among 75 women aged 19 to 71, in which the effects of two types of intervention were compared: mindfulness meditation and participation in a support group.
As a result, mindfulness meditation was found to be significantly more effective than participating in a support group. The meditation technique consisted of focusing on the present moment by being attentive to bodily sensations and emotions, but without making a value judgment.
This form of meditation appears to have been particularly beneficial in easing abdominal pain and bloating. Likewise, it has been shown to be useful in reducing psychological distress since this condition, which is difficult to treat, affects the quality of life.
Thus, after 8 weeks of meditation training, the severity of symptoms2 decreased by an average of 26,4% among participants compared to 6,2% among those who took part in the support group. The effect was even more marked 3 months after the end of the study: the decrease had fallen to 38,2% in people meditating against 11,8% in others.
The researchers stress that this technique should not be seen as a medical treatment, but rather as a teaching and a way to better manage the disease on a daily basis. These results will now have to be confirmed by further studies carried out with a larger sample.
Claudia Morissette – HealthPassport.net
1 The results of the study, led by Susan Gaylord and Olafur Palsson, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, were presented on May 7, 2011, in Chicago, as part of Digestive Disease Week.
2- Symptom severity was calculated using the IBS Severity Scale (IBS-SS) and IBS-QOL.