‘Mind-body’ connection: Mindfulness may improve IMID symptoms; more studies needed
Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases may be able to harness mindfulness practices to improve their symptoms, but there is still much to be studied about this connection, noted a presenter at the 2023 AWIR annual conference.
“People can understand, if you tell them that their brain and immune system are connected, that this is bidirectional, this is a two-lane highway,” Leonard Calabrese, DO, RJ Fasenmyer chair of clinical immunology at the Cleveland Clinic, and chief medical editor of Healio Rheumatology, told attendees at the hybrid meeting. “When we have inflammation, the clearest evidence of this neuropsychoimmunological access is our behavior.”
Calabrese pointed to “sick behavior” in humans and animals, such as striving to achieve as much rest as possible during times of illness. However, as work in disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and other therapies continues to advance, patients might have the power to improve their symptoms through mindfulness.
As an example, Calabrese discussed the rose experiment, a study published more than 100 years ago that demonstrated patients with asthma can have a reaction to plastic flowers.
“There is no mind and there is no body,” he said. “We are one thing, and patients can understand this.”
Work is still being done to further establish the connection between mindfulness and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, but there are steps that rheumatologists can take right now to have a positive impact on the health of their patients, according to Calabrese.
“We have a lot of things to offer right now,” he said. “Our studies show — and there are copious studies that show this — that people who have mindfulness practices have lower degrees of inflammation and tamping down of these pathways.”
However, Calabrese added that the mind-body connection is not as simple as opening an app and practicing a daily meditation exercise.
“These are mind-body techniques, and they include everything from yoga to tai chi,” he said. “Tai chi has been shown in randomized controlled clinical trials, in the New England Journal of Medicine, to be a highly effective treatment for central sensitization pain.”
In addition to yoga and tai chi, Calabrese discussed qigong — a practice involving posture, movement and meditation — as having potential in an adjunct capacity to aid patients dealing with this type of pain.
“We are studying qigong in all of these diseases as an adjunct,” he said.
And although there is still research to be done regarding these methods, Calabrese has seen enough data to feel confident incorporating them into his regular practice.
“Is this all definitive? Do we know that we can change the world, cure cancer and lower viral loads? No,” he said. “However, there is enough data for me that I talk to my patients every single day about this.”
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Calabrese L. Psychoneuroimmunology: A boot camp for the rheumatologist. Presented at: Association of Women in Rheumatology annual conference; Aug. 10-13, 2023; Orlando, Florida (hybrid meeting).
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