Mind–Body Interactions and Mindfulness Meditation in Diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes is associated with significant psychological distress. It is, therefore, important to ensure the physical and emotional as well as psychosocial wellbeing of individuals living with diabetes. Meditation-based strategies have been evaluated for their complementary role in several chronic disorders including depression, anxiety, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The practice of meditation is associated with reduction in stress and negative emotions and improvements in patient attitude, health-related behaviour and coping skills. There is increased parasympathetic activity with reduction in sympathetic vascular tone, stress hormones and inflammatory markers. Additionally, several studies evaluated the role of mindfulness-based stress reduction in diabetic individuals and demonstrated modest improvements in body weight, glycaemic control and blood pressure. Thus, mindfulness meditation-based intervention can lead to improvements across all domains of holistic care – biological, psychological and social. Though most of these studies have been of short duration and included small numbers of patients, meditation strategies can be useful adjunctive techniques to lifestyle modification and pharmacological management of diabetes and help improve patient wellbeing.

Ethnicity Differences in Sleep Changes Among Prehypertensive Adults Using a Smartphone Meditation App: Dose-Response Trial

“…One of the most common contributors to poor sleep is chronic stress [ 7 - 11 ], which can disrupt sleep by increasing rumination, worries, intrusive thoughts, and heightened muscular tension [ 12 , 13 ]. Mind-body strategies addressing stress may not only aid in the improvement of sleep quality but also reduce exacerbation of other chronic conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity [ 14 - 16 ].…”

Coping with diabetes stress among adults in rural Dominican Republic: “I don’t think about it”

“…27 Community health workers could deliver stress reduction and self-care programs effectively and sustainably in areas with limited access to mental health services, like rural DR. 30 While most MSBR adaptations include eight weekly sessions, one intervention in Thailand trained people with diabetes in practicing a sitting breathing meditation after breakfast each day over the course of two clinic visits. 31,32 Future research should focus on designing and testing additional cultural adaptations of MBSR as well as brief mindfulness activities for adults living with T2D in diverse settings.…”

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“…Mindfulness based interventions include meditation-based strategies such as nonjudgmental diaphragmatic breathing with focused attention, self-regulation of emotions and general self-awareness. These strategies are associated with a reduction in stress and negative emotions, improvement in patient attitude, healthrelated behavior and coping skills in individuals with diabetes (Priya and Kalra 2018). Only one pilot study in mindfulness meditation showed efficacy with improvement mood and quality of life as reported by parents in a group of adolescents.…”