Meditation

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


",THAT THE WORLD MIGHT BE SAVED THROUGH HIM": OPENING WORSHIP AND MEDITATION ON JOHN 3:17

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MISSION, Issue 367 2003
Bishop Martin Hein
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


DESCARTES' DOUBTS: PHYSIOLOGY AND THE FIRST MEDITATION

PHILOSOPHICAL FORUM, Issue 1 2009
KIRSTEN BESHEER
First page of article [source]


CONSCIOUS CHANGE AND CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MEDITATION

BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOTHERAPY, Issue 1 2004
Christopher MacKenna
ABSTRACT This paper investigates some aspects of consciousness by drawing on the psychology of meditation. Three states of mind are described: semiconsciousness, consciousness and, following the mystics, the possibility of a consciousness which transcends ordinary ego awareness. Some experiences of three authorities on Christian spirituality - Augustine of Hippo, Evagrius of Pontus and Teresa of Avila - are explored in the light of psychoanalytic reflections provided by Erikson, Jung, and Winnicott. [source]


Meditation as Medicine: A Critique

CROSSCURRENTS, Issue 2 2010
Wakoh Shannon Hickey
First page of article [source]


The Effects of the transcendental meditation program on mindfulness,,

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Melissa A. Tanner
Abstract Mindfulness is associated with low levels of neuroticism, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, as well as high levels of self-esteem and satisfaction with life (Brown & Ryan, 2003). As part of a 3-month randomized waitlist-controlled trial of the effects of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program on university students (N=295), we examined the impact of TM practice on mindfulness as measured by the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004). A repeated measures ANOVA on total KIMS scores showed a significant time×treatment interaction, with the TM participants reporting greater increases in mindfulness than the waitlist participants. All KIMS subscales were positively intercorrelated at pretreatment, and there were no differences over time or as a function of treatment condition in subscale intercorrelations. Therefore, previously published findings of a positive correlation between subscales measuring the skills of observing and accepting-without-judgment one's inner experiences only among those with meditation experience may have reflected a self-selection effect rather than a change in the relation of these mindfulness components resulting directly from meditation practice. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 65: 1,16, 2009. [source]


Meditation with yoga, group therapy with hypnosis, and psychoeducation for long-term depressed mood: a randomized pilot trial

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008
Lisa D. Butler
Abstract This randomized pilot study investigated the effects of meditation with yoga (and psychoeducation) versus group therapy with hypnosis (and psychoeducation) versus psychoeducation alone on diagnostic status and symptom levels among 46 individuals with long-term depressive disorders. Results indicate that significantly more meditation group participants experienced a remission than did controls at 9-month follow-up. Eight hypnosis group participants also experienced a remission, but the difference from controls was not statistically significant. Three control participants, but no meditation or hypnosis participants, developed a new depressive episode during the study, though this difference did not reach statistical significance in any case. Although all groups reported some reduction in symptom levels, they did not differ significantly in that outcome. Overall, these results suggest that these two interventions show promise for treating low- to moderate-level depression. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64(7): 1,15, 2008. [source]


A Meditation on Hell: Lessons from Dante

MODERN THEOLOGY, Issue 3 2002
James Wetzel
This essay borrows Dante's inspiration in the Inferno to explore a theology of hell. The usual apologies for hell either bank on a retributive paradigm of justice or are content to have hell introduce a note of tragedy into the history of redemption. The theology that is culled from Dante, and especially from his handling of Virgil's place and authority in hell, is neither retributive in its justice nor tragic in its vision. Dante shows us how to make some sense of the idea that hell is originally a part of the created order and as such expresses divine wisdom, justice, and love. [source]


Another Meditation on Das Erdbeben in Chili: Heinrich von Kleist and the Work of the Reader,

THE GERMAN QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2008
Amanda Norton
Heinrich von Kleist's Das Erdbeben in Chili (1807) has fascinated readers for two centuries. The tale of Josephe, Jeronimo, and the tiny Philipp combines many elements,a love affair, an illegitimate child, a natural disaster, a massacre outside a house of God,of tremendous storytelling. This article reconsiders the conventional understanding of some parts of this story. It focuses in particular on Kleist's presentation of certain constellations of family members and suggests that the family structure is not as sound as it may seem. By examining some of the mysterious statements and the interactions among the central characters in the story, this article highlights the interpretive challenge that the reader of Das Erdbeben faces. It seeks further to illuminate more generally connections among narration, truth and the act of reading. [source]


A Meditation on Cazabon's East Indian Group

ANTHROPOLOGY & HUMANISM, Issue 1 2004
Michael V. Angrosino
Using concepts derived from the field of postcolonial studies, as well as insights gleaned from three decades of ethnographic fieldwork among the East Indians of Trinidad, the author, an anthropologist, analyzes East Indian Group, a watercolor by the 19th -century Trinidadian artist Michel Jean Cazabon. The painting is seen as a textual example of a reflexive and resistant representation of the colonial Other. [source]


BOOK REVIEW: Yogic Perception, Meditation and Altered States of Consciousness.

ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 2 2010
By Eli Franco, Dagmar Eigner
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


Chronic Kidney Disease, Transplantation Practices and Transplantation Law in Pakistan: Opportunity for a Global Meditation

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 7 2009
Faheem AkhtarArticle first published online: 22 JUN 200
Abstract The majority of countries have enacted edicts to regulate organ transplantation due to mounting recognition of its intricacies and increasing level of global disquiet. Frail national economy and status of health care infrastructure restricts access of the local population to both dialysis and transplantation in Pakistan. There is a surge in kidney transplantation activities, however. I have reported the enormity of organ crime in Pakistan. The number of commercial renal transplants range from 3000 to 4500. Foreign nationals share the marketplace. There are current attempts from the government to stop organ trade by strictly enforcing a recently sanctioned law on organ transplantation. Scarcity of comprehensive reliable data has hampered plausible assessments and indispensable modifications to facilitate designs for the future health care. Alternatives to organ transplantation will augment the choice of treatment modalities for a proliferating end-stage renal disease (ESRD) population. The whole array of existing therapeutic modalities for ESRD has to be utilized. Promoting a fresh culture of organ donation by strengthening of the family institution may be another objective. [source]


The psychological and neurophysiological concomitants of mindfulness forms of meditation

ACTA NEUROPSYCHIATRICA, Issue 2 2007
Belinda Ivanovski
Objective:, To provide a comprehensive review and evaluation of the psychological and neurophysiological literature pertaining to mindfulness meditation. Methods:, A search for papers in English was undertaken using PsycINFO (from 1804 onward), MedLine (from 1966 onward) and the Cochrane Library with the following search terms: Vipassana, Mindfulness, Meditation, Zen, Insight, EEG, ERP, fMRI, neuroimaging and intervention. In addition, retrieved papers and reports known to the authors were also reviewed for additional relevant literature. Results:, Mindfulness-based therapeutic interventions appear to be effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety, psychosis, borderline personality disorder and suicidal/self-harm behaviour. Mindfulness meditation per se is effective in reducing substance use and recidivism rates in incarcerated populations but has not been specifically investigated in populations with psychiatric disorders. Electroencephalography research suggests increased alpha, theta and beta activity in frontal and posterior regions, some gamma band effects, with theta activity strongly related to level of experience of meditation; however, these findings have not been consistent. The few neuroimaging studies that have been conducted suggest volumetric and functional change in key brain regions. Conclusions:, Preliminary findings from treatment outcome studies provide support for the application of mindfulness-based interventions in the treatment of affective, anxiety and personality disorders. However, direct evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation per se in the treatment of psychiatric disorders is needed. Current neurophysiological and imaging research findings have identified neural changes in association with meditation and provide a potentially promising avenue for future research. [source]


Husserlian Meditations and Anthropological Reflections: Toward a Cultural Neurophenomenology of Experience and Reality

ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 2 2009
CHARLES D. LAUGHLIN PH.D.
ABSTRACT Most of us would agree that the world of our experience is different than the extramental reality of which we are a part. Indeed, the evidence pertaining to cultural cosmologies around the globe suggests that virtually all peoples recognize this distinction,hence the focus upon the "hidden" forces behind everyday events. That said, the struggle to comprehend the relationship between our consciousness and reality, even the reality of ourselves, has led to controversy and debate for centuries in Western philosophy. In this article, we address this problem from an anthropological perspective and argue that the generative route to a solution of the experience,reality "gap" is by way of an anthropologically informed cultural neurophenomenology. By this we mean a perspective and methodology that applies a phenomenology that controls for cultural variation in perception and interpretation, coupled with the latest information from the neurosciences about how the organ of experience,the brain,is structured. [source]


Motivational enhancement and coping skills training for cocaine abusers: effects on substance use outcomes

ADDICTION, Issue 7 2004
Damaris J. Rohsenow
Abstract Aims This clinical trial investigated effects of motivational enhancement treatment (MET) and group coping-skills training (CST) tailored for cocaine dependence. Effects of MET were hypothesized to be greater with CST and for less motivated patients. Design and interventions A 2 × 2 design investigated two individual sessions of MET compared to meditation,relaxation (MRT), followed by four group sessions of CST versus drug education (ED), as daily adjuncts to intensive treatment. Setting The substance abuse program provided full-day treatment with a learning-theory and 12-Step orientation. Participants Cocaine-dependent patients were recruited. Measurements Assessment included treatment retention; change in cocaine-related urge, self-efficacy, pros and cons, and motivation; substance use and problems during 12-month follow-up. Findings Of 165 patients, follow-up status is known for 90% (n = 149). Patients in MET with low initial motivation to change reported less cocaine and alcohol relapse and use days and fewer alcohol problems than MET patients with higher initial motivation. MET produced more employment improvement than MRT, with no other significant benefit for MET. Patients with higher motivation had more cocaine use and alcohol problems after MET than MRT. Group CST reduced cocaine and alcohol use during follow-up for women only and reduced alcohol relapse for men and women. Conclusions MET is more beneficial for patients with lower initial motivation than for patients with high initial motivation. CST reduced cocaine and alcohol use for women only and reduced alcohol relapses, in contrast to results with lengthier individual CST. [source]


Signaling, solidarity, and the sacred: The evolution of religious behavior

EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 6 2003
Richard Sosis
Abstract Anthropologists have repeatedly noted that there has been little theoretical progress in the anthropology of religion over the past fifty years.1,7 By the 1960s, Geertz2 had pronounced the field dead. Recently, however, evolutionary researchers have turned their attention toward understanding the selective pressures that have shaped the human capacity for religious thoughts and behaviors, and appear to be resurrecting this long-dormant but important area of research.8,19 This work, which focuses on ultimate evolutionary explanations, is being complemented by advances in neuropsychology and a growing interest among neuroscientists in how ritual, trance, meditation, and other altered states affect brain functioning and development.20,26 This latter research is providing critical insights into the evolution of the proximate mechanisms responsible for religious behavior. Here we review these literatures and examine both the proximate mechanisms and ultimate evolutionary processes essential for developing a comprehensive evolutionary explanation of religion. [source]


Is transcendental meditation effective in congestive heart failure?

FOCUS ON ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH, Issue 3 2007
R Jayadevappa
[source]


Cardiorespiratory synchronization during Zen meditation

FOCUS ON ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH, Issue 2005
A Büssing
[source]


Small effect of transcendental meditation on adolescent high normal blood pressure

FOCUS ON ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH, Issue 3 2004
Article first published online: 14 JUN 2010
[source]


An overview of 45 published database resources for complementary and alternative medicine

HEALTH INFORMATION & LIBRARIES JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010
Katja Boehm
Background:, Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has succeeded to implement itself in the academic context of universities. In order to get information on CAM, clinicians, researchers and healthcare professionals as well as the lay public are increasingly turning to online portals and databases, which disseminate relevant resources. One specific type of online information retrieval systems, namely the database, is being reviewed in this article. Question:, This overview aims at systematically retrieving and describing all databases covering the field of CAM. One of the requirements for inclusion was that the database would also have to be published in a medical journal. Data sources:, The databases amed, CAMbase, embase, and medline/PubMed were searched between December 2008 and December 2009 for publications relevant to CAM databases. The authors' specialist library was also searched for grey literature to be included. Study selection:, All included databases were then visited online and information on the context, structure and volume of the database was extracted. Main results:, Forty-five databases were included in this overview. Databases covered herbal therapies (n = 11), traditional Chinese medicine (n = 9) and some dealt with a vast number of CAM modalities (n = 9), amongst others. The amount of time the databases had been in existence ranged from 4 to 53 years. Countries of origin included the USA (n = 14), UK (n = 7) and Germany (n = 6), amongst others. The main language in 42 of 45 databases was English. Conclusions:, Although this overview is quite comprehensive with respect to the field of CAM, certain CAM practices such as chiropractic, massage, reflexology, meditation or yoga may not have been covered adequately. A more detailed assessment of the quality of the included databases might give additional insights into the listed resources. The creation of a personalised meta-search engine is suggested, towards which this overview could be seen as a first step. [source]


Space, sanctity and service; the English Cathedral as heterotopia

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 5 2002
Myra Shackley
Abstract The 43 Anglican Diocesan cathedrals in England attract in excess of 30 million tourist visitors per year, but also function as museums, centres for pilgrimage and foci for the performing arts. This paper examines the complex nature of the experience offered by cathedrals to their visitors, which often generates difficulties associated with sites that may be viewed as interfaces between the sacred and the profane. It also identifies the problems presented by the requirement to earn revenue from visitors (especially by charging admission) when still offering facilities for worship, prayer or meditation. The model adopted is Foucault's concept of sacred space as heterotopia (a ritual space that exists out of time). It is argued that difficulties over admissions charges are not simply straightforward reluctance to pay up, but intrinsically related to the nature of the spiritual experience expected and received by visitors to cathedrals, whether consciously or not. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Mindfulness intervention for child abuse survivors,

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Elizabeth Kimbrough
Abstract Twenty-seven adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse participated in a pilot study comprising an 8-week mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction (MBSR) program and daily home practice of mindfulness skills. Three refresher classes were provided through final follow-up at 24 weeks. Assessments of depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and mindfulness, were conducted at baseline, 4, 8, and 24 weeks. At 8 weeks, depressive symptoms were reduced by 65%. Statistically significant improvements were observed in all outcomes post-MBSR, with effect sizes above 1.0. Improvements were largely sustained until 24 weeks. Of three PTSD symptom criteria, symptoms of avoidance/numbing were most greatly reduced. Compliance to class attendance and home practice was high, with the intervention proving safe and acceptable to participants. These results warrant further investigation of the MBSR approach in a randomized, controlled trial in this patient population. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 66: 1,18, 2010. [source]


I think therefore i om: cognitive distortions and coping style as mediators for the effects of mindfulness meditation on anxiety, positive and negative affect, and hope

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Sharon Sears
Abstract This study examined cognitive distortions and coping styles as potential mediators for the effects of mindfulness meditation on anxiety, negative affect, positive affect, and hope in college students. Our pre- and postintervention design had four conditions: control, brief meditation focused on attention, brief meditation focused on loving kindness, and longer meditation combining both attentional and loving kindness aspects of mindfulness. Each group met weekly over the course of a semester. Longer combined meditation significantly reduced anxiety and negative affect and increased hope. Changes in cognitive distortions mediated intervention effects for anxiety, negative affect, and hope. Further research is needed to determine differential effects of types of meditation. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 65: 1,13, 2009. [source]


Loving-kindness meditation to enhance recovery from negative symptoms of schizophrenia

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
David P. Johnson
Abstract In this article, we describe the clinical applicability of loving-kindness meditation (LKM) to individuals suffering from schizophrenia-spectrum disorders with persistent negative symptoms. LKM may have potential for reducing negative symptoms such as anhedonia, avolition, and asociality while enhancing factors consistent with psychological recovery such as hope and purpose in life. Case studies will illustrate how to conduct this group treatment with clients with negative symptoms, the potential benefits to the client, and difficulties that may arise. Although LKM requires further empirical support, it promises to be an important intervention since there are few treatments for clients afflicted with negative symptoms. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: In Session 65: 1,11, 2009. [source]


Meditation with yoga, group therapy with hypnosis, and psychoeducation for long-term depressed mood: a randomized pilot trial

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008
Lisa D. Butler
Abstract This randomized pilot study investigated the effects of meditation with yoga (and psychoeducation) versus group therapy with hypnosis (and psychoeducation) versus psychoeducation alone on diagnostic status and symptom levels among 46 individuals with long-term depressive disorders. Results indicate that significantly more meditation group participants experienced a remission than did controls at 9-month follow-up. Eight hypnosis group participants also experienced a remission, but the difference from controls was not statistically significant. Three control participants, but no meditation or hypnosis participants, developed a new depressive episode during the study, though this difference did not reach statistical significance in any case. Although all groups reported some reduction in symptom levels, they did not differ significantly in that outcome. Overall, these results suggest that these two interventions show promise for treating low- to moderate-level depression. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64(7): 1,15, 2008. [source]


Cultivating mindfulness: effects on well-being

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008
Shauna L. Shapiro
Abstract There has been great interest in determining if mindfulness can be cultivated and if this cultivation leads to well-being. The current study offers preliminary evidence that at least one aspect of mindfulness, measured by the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS; K. W. Brown & R. M. Ryan, 2003), can be cultivated and does mediate positive outcomes. Further, adherence to the practices taught during the meditation-based interventions predicted positive outcomes. College undergraduates were randomly allocated between training in two distinct meditation-based interventions, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; J. Kabat-Zinn, 1990; n=15) and E. Easwaran's (1978/1991) Eight Point Program (EPP; n=14), or a waitlist control (n=15). Pretest, posttest, and 8-week follow-up data were gathered on self-report outcome measures. Compared to controls, participants in both treatment groups (n=29) demonstrated increases in mindfulness at 8-week follow-up. Further, increases in mindfulness mediated reductions in perceived stress and rumination. These results suggest that distinct meditation-based practices can increase mindfulness as measured by the MAAS, which may partly mediate benefits. Implications and future directions are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64: 1,23, 2008. [source]


Facilitating eyewitness memory in adults and children with context reinstatement and focused meditation

JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND OFFENDER PROFILING, Issue 2 2006
Laura Hammond
Abstract This study examined the comparative efficacy of two brief techniques for facilitating eyewitness memory in police investigations. Adult and child participants (N = 126; 64 children and 62 adults) who had viewed a videotape of a crime were subsequently tested for their memory of the event following either a focused meditation procedure (FM, derived from hypnotic interviewing techniques), a context reinstatement procedure (CR, a component of the cognitive interview), or a control procedure (no memory facilitation instructions). For both adults and children, the FM and CR procedures enhanced performance on both open-ended and closed questions to levels above those achieved by controls, although those in the CR condition produced significantly more correct responses than those in the FM condition. However, only those in the CR group displayed elevated levels of confidence in relation to incorrect responses on closed questions. Implications for the possible use of such procedures are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Hypo-Egoic Self-Regulation: Exercising Self-Control by Diminishing the Influence of the Self

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2006
Mark R. Leary
ABSTRACT Theory and research dealing with self-regulation have focused primarily on instances of self-regulation that involve high levels of self-reflection and effortful self-control. However, intentionally trying to control one's behavior sometimes reduces the likelihood of achieving one's goals. This article examines the process of hypo-egoic self-regulation in which people relinquish deliberate, conscious control over their own behavior so that they will respond more naturally, spontaneously, or automatically. An examination of spontaneously occurring hypo-egoic states (such as flow, deindividuation, and transcendence) suggests that hypo-egoic states are characterized by lowered self-awareness and/or an increase in concrete and present-focused self-thoughts. In light of this, people may intentionally foster hypo-egoism via two pathways,(a) taking steps to reduce the proportion of time that they are self-aware (such as repeating a behavior until it is automatic or practicing meditation) or (b) increasing the concreteness of their self-thoughts (such as inducing a concrete mindset or practicing mindfulness). In this way, people may deliberately choose to regulate hypo-egoically when effortful control might be detrimental to their performance. [source]


PTSD symptoms, substance use, and vipassana meditation among incarcerated individuals

JOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 3 2007
T. L. Simpson
The present study evaluated whether Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom severity was associated with participation and treatment outcomes comparing a Vipassana meditation course to treatment as usual in an incarcerated sample. This study utilizes secondary data. The original study demonstrated that Vipassana meditation is associated with reductions in substance use. The present study found that PTSD symptom severity did not differ significantly between those who did and did not volunteer to take the course. Participation in the Vipassana course was associated with significantly greater reductions in substance use than treatment as usual, regardless of PTSD symptom severity levels. These results suggest that Vipassana meditation is worthy of further study for those with comorbid PTSD and substance use problems. [source]


The Trollopian Geopolitical Aesthetic

LITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 9 2010
Lauren M. E. Goodlad
Trollope's reputation as a formally dull post-1848 realist persists even though the period of his Palliser series (1864,1879) was characterized by intense political and imperial dynamism. While most of Trollope's novels during this period exemplify a historically engaged realism, The Eustace Diamonds is distinct for its rare meditation on empire in South Asia,a topic that Trollope seems purposely to have avoided. Trollope's fourth Palliser novel captures the vexed ethics of a so-called liberal imperialism through two classic characters,Lucy Morris and Lord Fawn,and their interactions with the Sawab of Mygawb, a "non-character"who marks the novel's geopolitical unconscious. But the novel's most formally distinct features revolve around representation of Lizzie Eustace, who figures Trollope's uneasiness over the New Imperial era's neo-feudal aesthetics. Trollope associated the New Imperialism with Benjamin Disraeli whose Jewish ethnicity he tied to a "conjuring" political agency that could master the theaters of mass democracy and imperial expansion. In The Eustace Diamonds, Lizzie becomes the embodiment of an actively performed New Imperial aesthetic. As a Disraeli-like schemer, she introduces a stylistic referentiality that is alien to Trollope's ,pellucid' linguistic ideal. Where Trollope's sociological and global capitalist novels offer nuanced aesthetic capture, Lizzie marks the representational limits of such realism. Like the Sawab, she is the sign of a Trollopian power to stretch form beyond the crude anti-realism of the racialized scapegoat. [source]


Complementary and alternative medicine use in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 13 2009
Katie Kompoliti MD
Abstract The aim of this study was to describe the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients with Tourette syndrome (TS) and explore associations with CAM use. In recent years CAM use has increased, but rates of CAM use in TS patients are not reported. Consecutive TS patients or their parent(s), seen in an academic movement disorder center, completed a questionnaire regarding their use of CAM. One hundred TS patients or parents completed the questionnaire, mean age 21.5 ± 13.5, 76 males, 87 Caucasians. Sixty four patients had used at least one CAM modality. CAM treatments used were prayer (28), vitamins (21), massage (19), dietary supplements (15), chiropractic manipulations (12), meditation (10), diet alterations (nine), yoga (nine), acupuncture (eight), hypnosis (seven), homeopathy (six), and EEG biofeedback (six). Fifty six percent of patients using CAM reported some improvement. Users paid out of pocket for 47% of treatments pursued, and 19% of these payers received partial reimbursement by third party payer. Users and non-users did not differ in age, gender, race, income, educational level, general health, tic severity, medication use for TS, current satisfaction from medications or experience of side effects from medications. CAM use was associated with the presence of affective disorder (P = 0.004), but not with either ADHD or OCD. Among CAM users, 80% initiated CAM without informing their doctor. CAM is commonly used in children and adults with TS, and often without the neurologist's knowledge. Physicians should inquire about CAM to understand the spectrum of interventions that patients with TS use. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society [source]