Meditation Makes RA Easier to Bear

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ACR: Meditation Makes RA Easier to Bear

By Rabiya Tuma, Ph.D., MedPage Today Staff Writer

Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University

of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

November 16, 2005

Review

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 land group.

It is not clear exactly how meditation improves the physical

symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, said 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.

The intervention group had a mean DAS28 score of 3.9 ± 1.1, while

the control group's mean score was 4.1 ± 1.2. There was no

difference in the amount of change in disease activity between the

groups after two months (p=0.26), but after six months the

intervention group showed an 11% mean drop in DAS28 score, while the

control group showed no change (p=0.04).

When the research team examined the erythrocyte-sedimentation rate

alone, they found a 23% decrease, relative to baseline, in the

intervention group at two months, compared with 5% in the control

group (p=0.03). The benefit even improved at six months, with the

intervention group showing a mean drop of 33%, compared with 9% in

the control group (p=0.02).

Analyses indicated that there was no statistically significant

difference between the groups in change in depressive symptoms. At

two months, patients in the meditation arm also had a statistically

significant 30% reduction in psychological distress after the

intervention (p<0.001), as measured by the Symptoms Checklist 90-

Revised assessment tool, compared with a non significant 10% drop in

the control group (p=0.21).

The difference between the groups was of marginal significance

(p=0.06). The benefit of the intervention increased over time, with

participants showing a 33% drop from baseline at six months,

compared to 2% in the control group (p=0.04).

" For people interested in adding something to their normal

rheumatologist-supervised regime, this may be an additional activity

that could result in a small decrease of physical symptoms and

psychological distress, " Pradhan said. She emphasized that this

intervention is not meant to replace standard care.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/tb/2161