Van Wijk Eduard P A, Lüdtke Rainer, Van Wijk Roeland
International Institute of Biophysics, Neuss, Germany.
J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Apr;14(3):241-50. doi: 10.1089/acm.2007.7185.
Evidence has accumulated favoring the possible role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases. Meditation is utilized as an adjunct to conventional medical treatment for several clinical conditions. A few studies suggest a role of long-term meditation in the control of the free-radical metabolism. Many techniques for recording reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been made available. However, most are invasive and none are applicable to all conditions. Attention has recently been drawn to spontaneous ultraweak photon emission (UPE). However, the application of this method in meditation studies is very limited.
The present study recorded spontaneous UPE at multiple anatomic locations of subjects with long-term experience in transcendental meditation (TM) and compared this with a group that practiced other meditation techniques (OMT) and with subjects having no meditation experience.
The study examined the anatomic pattern of UPE of 20 subjects practicing TM, compared to 20 subjects practicing OMT, and 20 control subjects with no experience in meditation. Subjects were men who were reported to be healthy and nonsmokers. Meditation was not practiced on the day prior to recording. UPE was recorded in a dark room, using a highly sensitive, cooled photomultiplier system designed for manipulation in three directions. The protocol for the multisite registration of UPE included recording 12 anatomic locations, including the anterior torso, head, neck, and hands.
Data demonstrated emission intensities in the TM and OMT groups that were 27% and 17% lower, respectively, compared to the control group. The decrease was recorded at all anatomic locations. The percent emission contribution of each location to total emission was very similar for the three groups.
Data supported the hypothesis that persistent meditation resulted in decreased UPE. However, the determination of oxidation levels as the source of group differences needs to be verified further to confirm our hypothesis.
越来越多的证据表明氧化应激可能在多种慢性疾病的发病机制中发挥作用。冥想被用作多种临床疾病传统医学治疗的辅助手段。一些研究表明长期冥想在控制自由基代谢方面发挥作用。目前已有多种记录活性氧（ROS）的技术。然而，大多数技术具有侵入性，且没有一种适用于所有情况。最近，自发超微弱光子发射（UPE）受到关注。然而，该方法在冥想研究中的应用非常有限。
本研究记录了长期进行超觉静坐（TM）的受试者多个解剖部位的自发UPE，并将其与练习其他冥想技巧（OMT）的一组受试者以及没有冥想经验的受试者进行比较。
该研究检查了20名练习TM的受试者、20名练习OMT的受试者以及20名无冥想经验的对照受试者的UPE解剖模式。受试者均为报告健康且不吸烟的男性。记录前一天不进行冥想。在暗室中，使用专为三个方向操作设计的高灵敏度、冷却光电倍增管系统记录UPE。UPE多部位记录方案包括记录12个解剖部位，包括前躯干、头部、颈部和手部。
数据显示，与对照组相比，TM组和OMT组的发射强度分别降低了27%和17%。所有解剖部位均有下降。三组中每个部位对总发射的发射贡献百分比非常相似。
数据支持持续冥想会导致UPE降低的假设。然而，作为组间差异来源的氧化水平测定需要进一步验证以证实我们的假设。
