By Carol A. Meyerowitz

Image Preview Research on all kinds of mind-body meditation is growing. There are more than a dozen National Institute of Health studies examining its effects on everything from heart disease, chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis, eating disorders, diabetes, and cancer. Mind-body stress reduction techniques are now used in hospitals across the country.
We have nerve connections that link the brain with the immune cells. In a study examining the effects of meditation on immune cells in breast cancer patients, it was stated that our emotions change chemicals and nervous activity in the brain, thereby altering the cell function. So, it does make sense that if we change the chemistry of the brain or the neutral output of the brain, we can expect to see changes in immune function.

Another randomized, controlled study on the effects on brain and immune function is a well-known and widely used 8-week clinical training program in mindfulness meditation. It reported significant increases in left-sided anterior activation, a pattern previously associated with positive effect, in the meditators compared with the nonmeditators. Significant increases were also found in antibodies to influenza vaccine among subjects in the meditation group compared with the nonmeditators group. Finally, the magnitude of increase in left-side activation predicted the magnitude of antibodies to the vaccine. These findings demonstrate that meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function.
Don't be surprised if your doctor asks, :" Have you considered meditation"? This suggestion is now backed up by thousands of scientific studies. If you are sick, meditation can help in measurable ways. It works because it restores the body to a state of balance, or homeostasis, in which the systems whithin the body are at rest or operating within sustainable limits. While the body is quite capable of operating outside the state of balance, we're stressing those systems when this happens. If they stay stressed too long, they get damaged and pathologies start to occur. Homeostasis is the optimum state for self-repair and growth.
The immune system in particular suffers when under stress, and a poor immune system affects everything. Many diseases seem particularly related to the malfunctioning of the immune system. Stressed people succumb to illness that healthy people shrug off lightly. Years of inner warfare destroy defense capabilities. Within minutes, meditation can temporarily lower blood pressure and breathing rate, muscle tension, adrenaline production, and so on.  Meditation is the perfect antidote to anxiety, panic and phobias, which are all the result ofthe stress response locked in overdrive. Meditation affects the body to a calm state, helping it to repair itself, and preventing new damage. Stress reduces the power of the immune system against infections; meditation works by reducing stress.
Meditation's direct physical benefits remain enormous. People with cancer often ask, "How can I boost my immune system?" Meditation acts in a comprehensive way. While it has specific effects on the immune system, its real benefits are much wider, it helps  with food digestion, improves blood circulation and heart function, supports better sleep, and helps people with illnesses cope with pain and distress better, and enjoy life more. Since meditation acts as the command post, this may be all that's needed to start turning around a serious illness. There is one last stress reducer to mention, and that is the simple fact that meditation is free, and always available, no matter where you are.

posted by Ingrid Dreyer
www.personal-development-growth.com