Lee Seung-Ho, Hwang Sun-Mi, Kang Do-Hyung, Yang Hyun-Jeong
Department of Brain Education.
Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Brain Education, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 May;98(19):e15574. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000015574.
Hypertension and type 2 diabetes are chronic diseases, which generally require lifetime care. Meditation and yoga can be complementary to pharmacological therapies according to the scientific evidences so far. Brain education-based meditation (BEM) is a technique, which has been known to change brain structure, psychology, and physiology of healthy adult participants. This randomized, nonblinded pilot trial aimed to examine whether BEM affects the conditions of patients with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes compared with health education classes.
We randomly allocated 48 patients with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes to BEM (n = 24) or health education (n = 24) classes in the Ulsan Junggu Public Health Center in Korea, where the classes were run during the same period and explored the impact of 8-week practice on the serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, creatinine, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Total RNA was extracted to examine inflammatory gene expressions from the whole blood using PAXgene blood RNA System. In addition, self-reports on mental/physical health were evaluated. The Student's t test, chi-squared test, and analysis of covariance were used for statistical analysis.
The number of people who participated until the completion of the study was 14 in the control and 21 in the BEM group. After 8 weeks, LDL cholesterol level was significantly decreased in the BEM group after the intervention (13.82 mg/dL reduction, P < .05), while it was not significantly altered in the control group. The expression of inflammatory genes was significantly reduced after 8 weeks of the BEM training (0.3-, 0.5-, and 0.2-fold change for NFKB2, RELA, and IL1B, respectively, all P < .05). In the item analysis of mental/physical health self-reports, a significant improvement was confirmed as follows: increases in focus, confidence, relaxation, and happiness; decreases in fatigue, anger, and loneliness (all P < .05). There were no important adverse events or side-effects by BEM intervention.
Compared to health education, BEM helps lower LDL cholesterol level and the inflammatory gene expression in the patients with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes. Moreover, BEM induces positive effects on the self-reported mental/physical states, warranting further study.
高血压和2型糖尿病是慢性病，通常需要终身护理。根据目前的科学证据，冥想和瑜伽可作为药物治疗的补充。基于脑教育的冥想（BEM）是一种技术，已知它能改变健康成年参与者的大脑结构、心理和生理状态。这项随机、非盲法的试点试验旨在研究与健康教育课程相比，BEM是否会影响高血压和/或2型糖尿病患者的病情。
我们将48例高血压和/或2型糖尿病患者随机分配至BEM组（n = 24）或健康教育组（n = 24），在韩国蔚山中区公共卫生中心进行课程培训，两组课程同期开展，并探究8周练习对血清谷草转氨酶、血清谷丙转氨酶、γ-谷氨酰转肽酶、肌酐、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇和低密度脂蛋白（LDL）胆固醇的影响。使用PAXgene血液RNA系统从全血中提取总RNA，以检测炎症基因表达。此外，还对心理/身体健康的自我报告进行了评估。采用学生t检验、卡方检验和协方差分析进行统计分析。
研究结束时，对照组有14人参与，BEM组有21人参与。8周后，干预后BEM组的LDL胆固醇水平显著降低（降低13.82mg/dL，P <.05），而对照组无显著变化。BEM训练8周后，炎症基因表达显著降低（NFKB2、RELA和IL1B分别变化0.3倍、0.5倍和0.2倍，均P <.05）。在心理/身体健康自我报告的项目分析中，确认有显著改善：注意力、自信心、放松程度和幸福感增加；疲劳、愤怒和孤独感减少（均P <.05）。BEM干预未出现重要不良事件或副作用。
与健康教育相比，BEM有助于降低高血压和/或2型糖尿病患者的LDL胆固醇水平和炎症基因表达。此外，BEM对自我报告的心理/身体状态产生积极影响，值得进一步研究。
