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Meditationboostsgenesthatpromotegoodhealthhealth02May2013NewScientist

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Meditationboostsgenesthatpromotegoodhealth
17:2002May2013byAndyCoghlan
Forsimilarstories,visittheGeneticsTopicGuide

Feelingrundown?Tryalittlechanting,ormeditationseriously.Such
relaxationtechniquescanboosttheactivityofgenesinvolvedinseveral
processesbeneficialtohealth,andtheyonlytakeafewminuteseachdayto
showresults.

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Previousstudieshavereportedchangestothebrainwhilepeoplepractise
theseactivities,butanewstudyshowsforthefirsttimethatgeneactivity
changestoo.Thiscouldexplainthereportedbeneficialeffectsofmeditation,
yogaandprayer.
"It'snotNewAgenonsense,"saysHerbertBensonoftheMassachusetts
GeneralHospitalinBoston.Heandhiscolleaguesanalysedthegeneprofiles
of26volunteersnoneofwhomregularlymeditatebeforeteachingthema
relaxationroutinelasting10to20minutes.Itincludedrecitingwords,breathing
exercisesandattemptstoexcludeeverydaythought.
Aftereightweeksofperformingthetechniquedaily,thevolunteersgeneprofile
wasanalysedagain.Clustersofimportantbeneficialgeneshadbecomemore
activeandharmfuloneslessso.
Theboostedgeneshadthreemainbeneficialeffects:improvingtheefficiency
ofmitochondria,thepowerhouseofcellsboostinginsulinproduction,which
improvescontrolofbloodsugarandpreventingthedepletionoftelomeres,
capsonchromosomesthathelptokeepDNAstableandsopreventcells
wearingoutandageing.
Clustersofgenesthatbecamelessactivewerethosegovernedbyamaster
genecalledNFkappaB,whichtriggerschronicinflammationleadingto
diseasesincludinghighbloodpressure,heartdisease,inflammatorybowel
diseaseandsomecancers.

Withinminutes
Bytakingbloodimmediatelyafterbeforeandafterperformingthetechniqueon
asingleday,researchersalsoshowedthatthegenechangeshappenedwithin
minutes.
Forcomparison,theresearchersalsotooksamplesfrom26volunteerswho
hadpractisedrelaxationtechniquesforatleastthreeyears.Theyhad
beneficialgeneprofilesevenbeforeperformingtheirroutinesinthelab,
suggestingthatthetechniqueshadresultedinlongtermchangestotheir
genes.
"Itseemsfittingthatyoushouldseetheseresponsesafterjust15to20
minutesjustas,conversely,shortperiodsofstresselevatestresshormones
andotherphysiologicaleffectsthatareharmfulinthelongterm,"saysJulie
BrefczynskiLewisofWestVirginiaUniversityinMorgantown,whostudiesthe
physiologicaleffectsofmeditationtechniques."Ihopetoseetheseresults
replicatedbyothergroups."
"Wefoundthatthemoreyoudoit,themoreprofoundthegenomicexpression
changes,"saysBenson.Heandhiscolleaguesarenowinvestigatinghowgene
profilesarealteredandwhetherthesetechniquescouldeasesymptomsin
peoplewithhighbloodpressure,inflammatoryboweldiseaseandmultiple
myeloma,atypeofbonemarrowcancer.
Bensonstressesthattherelaxationtechniquesshouldonlybeanadjunctto

20December2014

Averydifferentkindofgenetherapy(Image:Jewel
Samad/AFP/Getty)

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12/27/2014

Meditationboostsgenesthatpromotegoodhealthhealth02May2013NewScientist

conventionalmedicineandsurgery,notareplacement.

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Journalreference:PLoSOne,doi.org/mfj

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