The study found meditation could reverse brain aging by almost six years, and possibly reduce risk of Alzheimer's and dementia.
A new study has found that a certain kind of meditation could reverse brain aging by an average of almost six years, while also potentially reducing risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Referring to meditation, alongside high quality sleep and diet, Dr.
Balachundhar Subramaniam, one of the authors of the study and a professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, told Newsweek: “The more you do it from early on, you can definitely delay, reverse, or reduce the severity of the dementia.” Why It Matters Meditation is well recognized as being beneficial for mental and physical health, with studies associating the practice with improved immune system function, reduced anxiety, and improved memory and emotional regulation. It is also considered helpful in the management of chronic pain, diabetes, hypertension, and fibromyalgia. While meditation is recognized as having positive impacts for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, this new study suggests that it could potentially act as a preventative measure, reducing risk of those diseases and maintaining brain health long-term. This year, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease reached more than 7 million for the first time, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. File photo: a man sits by the sea and meditates. What To Know The study, published in the journal Mindfulness, was conducted by researchers at the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. It found that those who practiced yoga-based meditation had brain ages significantly younger than their chronological age – specifically, those considered “advanced meditators,” who did at least two hours of meditation a day, had brains that looked 5.9 years younger than their actual age, which the researchers said indicated slower or even reversed brain aging. The reason behind this is largely due to differences in sleep among those who meditate a lot and those who don’t. The “advanced meditators” had a much higher sleep quality, having deeper and more refreshing sleep, which Subramaniam said is “rejuvenating and has a direct effect on inflammation.” The participants sleep was analyzed via specific headbands they wore when sleeping, which could measure their sleep electroencephalography , a kind of testing that reflects real-time brain function and is used to diagnose certain brain-related conditions. The participants were also found to have sharper memory, clearer thinking, and felt less stress and loneliness compared to others their age who didn’t meditate. Although, “we can’t conclude that meditation causes reduced brain aging based on their study design, only that there is a significant association between the two,” Tamar Mendelson, a professor of American health and director of the Center for Adolescent Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who was not part of the study, told Newsweek. She said that, as these participants meditated for a significant amount of time daily, it is “important for future research to assess whether short-term practice and briefer practice sessions are also associated with reduced brain aging.” That said, she added that meditation “should absolutely be taken seriously as a practice that promotes health, including brain health,” even though there is currently not enough evidence to “recommend meditation as an intervention to reduce brain aging.” The 35 participants, who had an average age of 38, were all attendees of the same yoga retreat in 2021 – a retreat that was a four-day program, involving 10 to 12 hours of yoga and meditation daily. There was also a lot of preparation participants had to do before the retreat, with a 40-day intensive process of three to four hours of daily yoga and meditation practice, alongside a specific vegan diet. Subramaniam said that what was important was more the quality of the meditation the participants were doing versus the actual amount of time they were doing it for. “Meditation is not something you do, it’s a state to be in,” he explained. In order to get into that “state,” he said it was important for someone unfamiliar with the practice to follow guided meditations “to the tee,” in order to learn the way it is supposed to be done. He added that if meditation was done properly, it would lead to a greater sense of attention to the present moment. “You’re not living in your head, you are actually seeing things around you in the environment and your perception goes up,” he said, adding these were all signs a person’s meditative practice was of high quality. What People Are Saying Dr. Balachundhar Subramaniam, a professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, told Newsweek: ̶...
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