Meditation and arthritis

Today I found an article called, "Meditation Makes RA Easier to Bear". Here's an excerpt:

SAN DIEGO - Meditation can ease the physical and psychological impacts of rheumatoid arthritis, a small randomized study suggests.

After two months of participating in weekly meditation classes and at-home meditation and relaxation techniques, patients in an intervention arm had significantly less disease activity and improved psychological well-being than those in the control arm, said a University of Maryland group.

It is not clear exactly how meditation improves the physical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, said Elizabeth K. Pradhan, M.P.H., who will present the study results at the American College of Rheumatology meeting here on Thursday. She noted, however, that stress induces disease flare-ups in rheumatoid arthritis, so anything that decreases stress could help.

The investigators randomized 63 patients to immediate intervention or delayed intervention arms, matched for baseline disease and demographic characteristics.

Both physicians and the phlebotomists assessing the patients were blinded about who was in the active intervention arm and who were controls. Participants were predominantly female, college-educated and in a middle-to-high socio-economic status.

The researchers assessed disease symptoms using the Disease Activity Score for 28 Joints (DAS28), which measures swelling and discomfort in joints, as well as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate as an indicator of inflammation, and a visual analog scale for pain.

I encourage you to use information about research like this as motivation for being faithful to your own practice. Anything that can help us keep meditating is valuable material!