The Indian Practitioner

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Meditation And Healthy Ageing For Seniors


Affiliations
1 International Ahinsa Research & Training Institute of Spiritual Technology (I-ARTIST), Mumbai, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Ageing, though a graceful period, is associated with problems related to physical and mental health, social isolation and financial crunch. This review aims at highlighting the efficacy of meditation in promoting health in elderly population. Review of literature suggests that mindfulness has promising beneficial effect on cognitive, emotional, and physiological parameters in the elderly. In a well planned prospective, randomized, case control study by us on 58 subjects (37 males and 21 females) who were administered a Preksha meditation for 4 months. At the end of 4 months period, there was an improvement in all domains of WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) ranging from 3 point to 5.7, i.e. psychological health (29.3%), physical health (24.1%), social health (12.1%)) and environmental health (29.3%) and in stress level (17.2%). There was also an improvement in depression and anxiety status as assessed by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS). It can be concluded that meditation is a cost-effective, non-invasive intervention with minimal risk of adverse effects and can be safely recommended for promotion of mental health in elderly.

Keywords

Elderly, Healthy Aging, Mindfulness Training, Preksha Meditation, Physical Well-being, Mental Health, Psychological Well-Being, Anxiety, Depression.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Fountain-Zaragoza S, Prakash RS. Mindfulness training for healthy aging: Impact on attention, well-being, and inflammation. Front. Aging Neurosci. 2017; 9:11. doi: 10.3389/ fnagi.2017. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2017.00011

  • Mathur A. Mental health in old age. J Ind Acad Geriat 2017; 13:3-4.

  • World Health Organization. Definition of an older or elderly person. 2013. Available from: http://www.who.int/ healthinfo/survey/ageingdefnolder/en/

  • Bhatt M, Gaur BP. Role of Preksha Meditation in promoting mental health of elderly people. Int J Sci Consc 2016; 2: 8-17.

  • Geiger PJ, Boggero IA, Brake CA, Caldera CA, Combs HL, Peters JR, Baer RA. Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Older Adults: A Review of the Effects on Physical and Emotional Well-being. Mindfulness (NY). 2016; 7: 296–307.

  • Khan S, Itrat M. Current issues in geriatric health care in India- A review. J Community Med Health Care 2016; 1: 1003-1015.

  • Charles ST, Carstensen LL. Social and emotional Aging. Ann Rev Psychol 2010; 61:383–409.

  • Nair S, Pooja R, Sreekanth SN. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among the rural geriatric population: A pilot study in Karnataka, India. Central Asian J Global Health 2015; 4: DOI 10.5195/cajgh.2015.138|http://cajgh.pitt.edu

  • Shah SN, Desai ND, Sharma ER, Chvavda PD, Shah SH. Psychiatric Co-morbidity in Geriatric Medical Outpatients of Tertiary Care Hospital. J Ind Acad Geriat 2017; 13:5-9.

  • Balaji PA, Varne SR, Ali SS. Effects of yoga - pranayama practices on metabolic parameters and anthropometry in type 2 diabetes. Int Multidisciplinary Res J 2011; 1:1-4.

  • Elghalaieni M. A review on the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation. Natural Social Sciences 2015; 3: 81-86.

  • Jha AP, Krompinger J, Baime MJ. Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. Cognitive, Affective, Behavioral Neuroscience. 2007; 7:109–119.

  • Chiesa A, Calati R, Serretti A. Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neuropsychological findings. Clinical Psychology Review. 2011; 31:449–464.

  • Vollestad J, Nielsen MB, Nielsen GH. Mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions for anxiety disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brit J Clin Psychol 2012; 51:239–260.

  • Lutz A, Slagter HA, Dunne JD, Davidson RJ. Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2008; 12, 163–169. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2008.01.005

  • Kabat-Zinn, J. An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: theoretical consideration and preliminary results. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry 1982; 4, 33–47. doi: 10.1016/0163-8343(82)90026-3

  • Davidson DJ, Zacks RT, Williams CC. Stroop interference, practice, and aging. Aging Neuropsychol. Cogn. 2003; 10, 85–98. doi: 10.1076/anec.10.2.85.14463

  • Lustig C, Snyder AZ, Bhakta M, O’Brien KC, McAvoy M, Raichle ME, et al. Functional deactivations: change with age and dementia of the Alzheimer type. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2003; 100, 14504–14509. doi: 10.1073/ pnas.2235925100

  • Posner MI, Rothbart MK. Research on attention: Networks as a model for the integration of psychological science. Annual Rev Psychol 2007; 58, 1-23.

  • Gard T, Holzel BK, Lazar SW. The potential effect of meditation on age-related cognitive decline: a systematic review. Ann New York Acad Sci 2014;1307:89–103.

  • Prakash RS, Hussain MA, Schirda B. The role of emotion regulation and cognitive control in the association between mindfulness disposition and stress. Psychol. Aging 2015; 30, 160. doi: 10.1037/a0038544

  • Wallace BA, Shapiro SL. Mental balance and well-being— Building bridges between Buddhism and western psychology. Amer Psychol 2006; 61, 690-701.

  • Goh JO, An Y, Resnick SM. Differential trajectories of agerelated changes in components of executive and memory processes. Psychol. Aging 2012; 27, 707. doi: 10.1037/ a0026715

  • Fox MD, Snyder AZ, Vincent JL, Corbetta M, Van Essen DC, Raichle, ME. The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2005; 102, 9673–9678. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0504136102

  • Koch W, Teipel S, Mueller S, Buerger K, Bokde AL, Hampel H, et al. (). Effects of aging on default mode network activity in resting state fMRI: does the method of analysis matter? Neuroimage 2010; 51, 280–287. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.008

  • Geerligs L, Renken RJ, Saliasi E, Maurits NM, Lorist MM. A brain-wide study of age-related changes in functional connectivity. Cereb. Cortex 2015; 25, 1987–1999. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhu012

  • Chiesa A, Serretti A, Jakobsen JC. Mindfulness: top-down or bottom-up emotion regulation strategy? Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2013; 33, 82–96. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2012.10.006

  • Tang YY, Hölzel BK, Posner MI. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 2015; 16, 213– 225. doi: 10.1038/nrn3916

  • Buckner RL, Andrews-Hanna JR, Schacter DL. The brain’s default network. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 2008; 1124, 1–38. doi: 10.1196/annals.1440.011

  • Leech R, Kamourieh S, Beckmann CF, Sharp DJ. Fractionating the default mode network: distinct contributions of the ventral and dorsal posterior cingulate cortex to cognitive control. J. Neurosci 2011; 31, 3217–3224.

  • Moynihan JA, Chapman BP, Klorman R, Krasner MS., Duberstein PR, Brown KW, et al. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for older adults: effects on executive function, frontal alpha asymmetry and immune function. Neuropsychobiology 2013; 68, 34–43. doi: 10.1159/000350949

  • Raes AK, Bruyneel L, Loeys T, Moerkerke B, De Raedt R. Mindful attention and awareness mediate the association between age and negative affect. J Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences Social Sciences. 2015; 70B:181–190.

  • Grossman P, Niemann L, Schmidt S, Walach H. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits: A meta-analysis. J Psychosomatic Res, 2004; 57, 35-43.

  • Foulk MA, Ingersoll-Dayton B, Kavanagh J, Robinson E, Kales, H. C. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with older adults: an exploratory study. J. Gerontol. Soc. Work 2014; 57, 498–520. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2013.869787

  • Bohlmeijer E, Prenger R, Taal E, Cuijpers P. The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy on mental health of adults with a chronic medical disease: a meta-analysis. J. Psychosom. Res. 2010; 68, 539–544. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.10.005

  • Young LA, Baime, MJ. Mindfulness-based stress reduction: effect on emotional distress in older adults. Complement. Health Pract. Rev. 2010; 15, 59–64. doi: 10.1177/1533210110387687

  • Sanchetee P, Jain A, Agarwal H. Preksha meditation and mental health in elderly. J Ind Acad Geriat 2017; 13:131138.

  • Gangadhar BN, Sarkar S. Grover. A systematic review and meta-analysis of trials of treatment of depression from India. India J Psychiat 2014; 56:29–38

  • Deshpande S, Nagendra H, Raghuram N. A randomized control trial of the effect of yoga on verbal aggressiveness in normal healthy volunteers. Int J Yoga 2008; 1: 76–82.

  • West J, Otte C, Geher K, Johnson J, Mohr DC. Effects of hatha yoga and African dance on perceived stress, affect, and salivary cortisol. Ann Behavioral Medicine 2004; 28, 114–118.

  • Walsh R, Roche L. Precipitation of acute psychotic episodes by intensive meditation in individuals with a history of schizophrenia. Amer J Psychiat 1979; 136, 1085–1086.

  • Steptoe A, Shankar A, Demakakos P, Wardle J. Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2013; 110, 5797– 5801. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1219686110

  • Manocha R, Black D, Wilson L. Quality of life and functional health status of long-term meditators. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2012; 2012:350674.

  • Morone NE, Greco CM, Morone NE. Adapting mindfulness meditation for the older adult. Mindfulness. 2014, 5: 610–612.

  • Kamprath S, Glick R, Morone N. Physiologic measures of mindfulness meditation in older adults. J Gen Int Med 2013; 28, S145.

  • Sangeeta J. Sarkate, SJ, Phatale S, Bhakare PS. Study of effect of meditation on BMI. Int J Recent Trend Science Tech 2014; 11: 81-82.

  • Sperduti M, Makowski D, Piolino P. The protective role of long-term meditation on the decline of the executive component of attention in aging: a preliminary crosssectional study. J Aging Neuropsychology Cognition 2016; 23:1-12.


Abstract Views: 293

PDF Views: 0




  • Meditation And Healthy Ageing For Seniors

Abstract Views: 293  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Pratap Sanchetee
International Ahinsa Research & Training Institute of Spiritual Technology (I-ARTIST), Mumbai, India

Abstract


Ageing, though a graceful period, is associated with problems related to physical and mental health, social isolation and financial crunch. This review aims at highlighting the efficacy of meditation in promoting health in elderly population. Review of literature suggests that mindfulness has promising beneficial effect on cognitive, emotional, and physiological parameters in the elderly. In a well planned prospective, randomized, case control study by us on 58 subjects (37 males and 21 females) who were administered a Preksha meditation for 4 months. At the end of 4 months period, there was an improvement in all domains of WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) ranging from 3 point to 5.7, i.e. psychological health (29.3%), physical health (24.1%), social health (12.1%)) and environmental health (29.3%) and in stress level (17.2%). There was also an improvement in depression and anxiety status as assessed by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS). It can be concluded that meditation is a cost-effective, non-invasive intervention with minimal risk of adverse effects and can be safely recommended for promotion of mental health in elderly.

Keywords


Elderly, Healthy Aging, Mindfulness Training, Preksha Meditation, Physical Well-being, Mental Health, Psychological Well-Being, Anxiety, Depression.

References