2015-may-june

Healthcare Journal of new orleans

MAY / JUN 2015

corresponds to the sum of all of the hor-

mones, nerve impulses, blood flow, etc., that

work together to carry out a unified physi-

ological function; the unified working of a

biologically functional system.

Yin and yang are oppositemanifestations

of Qi that must work together and balance

each other. With respect to meditation, yin

and yang Qi in the TCM system essentially

correspond to the parasympathetic and

sympathetic nervous systems of the auto-

nomic nervous system. In the TCM view, if

yin and yang Qi are not in balance, sickness

will result. The corresponding, emerging

Western biological hypothesis is that the

fight-or-flight response must be in balance

with the relaxation response, and that an

imbalance between the two is responsible

for many of the “first world” chronic dis-

eases commonly seen today.

Agrowing body of clinical evidence sup-

ports the usefulness of meditation for not

only chronic diseases, but also manage-

ment of conditions like multiple sclero-

sis, cancer, pain, and psychological disor-

ders. Traditionally, it has also been used to

enhance and direct the body’s own healing,

including wound healing. In a particularly

dramatic example of this, Shi Deru sustained

extensive injuries when a crowd of over 100

villagers, mistakenly associating him with

government officials who had taken their

land, attempted to beat him to death. (As a

Buddhist, he refused to fight back with any

techniques that could have hurt any of the

villagers.) To recuperate from the injuries he

sustained, he “spent at least 26 hours medi-

tating”and doing Qi Gong, a traditional Chi-

nesemovingmeditation practice that seeks

to cultivate and balance Qi.

“Your body can be themost effective fac-

tory to produce the most effective drug in

the world,”he explains, “One just needs the

recipe found within the genes. The informa-

tion can be accessed at any time, but only

after having ridden oneself of both social

and cultural interference through deep

breathing and quiet meditation.” His ideas

are supported by University of Wisconsin

researchers Davidson et al., who found

that mindfulness meditation significantly

increased antibody titers after influenza

vaccination, compared with non-meditat-

ing controls.

As to the question of mechanisms under-

lying meditation’s diverse effects, one study

is particularly illuminating. Acollaborative

team, Bhasin et al., looked at the transcrip-

tomes of study subjects to characterize

gene expression changes associated with

meditation. Two groups of study partici-

pants were included: one group of long-

term practitioners of meditation and other

relaxation response-inducing practices,

such as yoga and Qi Gong, and one group

of novices, who had never tried any such

techniques. The novices then underwent an

8-week training session in the techniques.

During relaxation response-inducing test

sessions, blood samples were collected

from the long-term practitioners, novice

practitioners before training, and novice

practitioners after training.

Comparing both long term practitioners

and trained novices to the novices before

training, expression changes were docu-

mented in a wide array of genes, with some

genes up- or downregulated only in long-

termpractitioners, but many also in the nov-

ices after just 8weeks of training. Genes with

upregulated expressionwere linked to path-

ways responsible for energymetabolism, the

electron transport chain, biological oxida-

tion, and insulin secretion, implying that

meditation may work to enhance the effi-

ciency of oxidation–reduction reactions in

the cell, and thereby reduce oxidative stress.

Downregulated genes included NF-kB and

other transcription factors involved in

inflammation. Decreased expression of these

genes would be expected to reduce oxida-

tive stress, insulin resistance, and apoptosis,

which could reduce the likelihood of hyper-

tension, obesity, insulin resistant diabetes

mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. The long-

term practitioners also showed increased

expression of telomerase and other genes

important for slowing cellular aging and

The

Chinese

character

for Qi

With respect to

meditation, yin and

yang Qi in the TCM

system essentially

correspond to the

parasympathetic

and sympathetic

nervous systems

of the autonomic

nervous system.