AKRON, OH, October 05, 2012 (Press-News.org) Three weeks of healing touch treatments, combined with listening to a guided imagery CD, provides significant clinical reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms for combat-exposed, active duty Marines, according to a study released in the September issue of Military Medicine.
The report finds that the 68 Camp Pendleton Marines who were randomly assigned to 6 sessions of the combined intervention within a three-week period also showed significant improvement in quality of life, as well as reduced depression and cynicism, as compared to the 55 subjects receiving treatment as usual.
"Scores for PTSD symptoms decreased substantially, about 14 points and below the clinical cutoffs for PTSD," said principal investigator, Dr. Mimi Guarneri of Scripps Hospital. "This indicates that the intervention was not just statistically significant, but actually decreased symptoms below the threshold for PTSD diagnosis. It made a large difference in reducing PTSD symptoms."
The guided imagery audio program used in the study was Healing Trauma, created by Belleruth Naparstek and produced by Health Journeys Inc. The Camp Pendleton results support previous findings with this imagery from a Duke University study with women veterans suffering from longstanding PTSD and military sexual trauma.
"Service members are seeking out non-drug complementary and integrative medicine as part of their overall care and approach to wellness," said Wayne B. Jonas, MD, president and chief executive officer of the Samueli Institute, a partner in the study. "This treatment pairs deep relaxation with a self-care approach that can be used at home .The results of this study underscore the need to make effective, non-stigmatizing treatments for PTSD available to all our service members."
Naparstek agrees that the combination of healing touch and guided imagery is not only an effective combination that probably synergizes more healing impact together than either intervention could effect by itself, but that it offers a brief, user-friendly form of help that service members will use and recommend to peers.
Healing touch is an energy-based, non-invasive treatment, similar to Reiki, which restores and balances the human bio-field to help decrease pain and promote healing. Guided imagery combines a calming, immersive narrative with soothing music to direct the imagination to reduce pain, heal emotional wounds and restore a sense of well-being.
The study, "Healing Touch with Guided Imagery for PTSD in Returning Active Duty Military: A Randomized Controlled Trial", was authored by Shamini Jain, PhD, George F. McMahon, CDR, NC, USN; Patricia Hasen, CDR, NC, USN, Valencia Porter, MD, MPH; Rauni King, RN, MIH, CHTP and Mimi Gaurneri, MD, and appears in the September issue of Military Medicine.
The research was funded by a grant from the Taylor Family Foundation in conjunction with Camp Pendleton, the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine and The Samueli Institute.
Health Journeys Inc.is an Akron, Ohio based company which produces guided imagery and other mind-body audio programs used in V. A. hospitals nationwide, and in U.S. military installations around the world. The company has just released a new guided imagery audio for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
For more information, contact Elizabeth C. Hauser, 1-800-800-8661 ext. 100, or visit www.healthjourneys.com.
New Study Shows Marked Drop in PTSD Symptoms in Combat-Exposed Marines from Healing Touch and Guided Imagery
Study released in military medicine finds significant improvements in just three weeks.
2012-10-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New study links caffeinated coffee to vision loss
2012-10-04
Rockville, MD – A new study suggests caffeinated coffee drinkers should limit their intake to reduce their chances of developing vision loss or blindness. According to a scientific paper in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, heavy caffeinated coffee consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing exfoliation glaucoma, the leading cause of secondary glaucoma worldwide.
The study, The Relation between Caffeine and Coffee Consumption and Exfoliation Glaucoma or Glaucoma Suspect: A Prospective Study in Two Cohorts, is the first to examine the link ...
OU researchers implement a multi-photon approach in quantum cryptography
2012-10-04
NORMAN, Okla. – Move over money, a new currency is helping make the world go round. As increasing volumes of data become accessible, transferable and, therefore, actionable, information is the treasure companies want to amass. To protect this wealth, organizations use cryptography, or coded messages, to secure information from "technology robbers." This group of hackers and malware creators increasingly is becoming more sophisticated at breaking encrypted information, leaving everyone and everything, including national security and global commerce, at risk.
But the threat ...
Anthropologist finds evidence of hominin meat eating 1.5 million years ago
2012-10-04
DENVER (Oct. 4, 2012) – A skull fragment unearthed by anthropologists in Tanzania shows that our ancient ancestors were eating meat at least 1.5 million years ago, shedding new light into the evolution of human physiology and brain development.
"Meat eating has always been considered one of the things that made us human, with the protein contributing to the growth of our brains," said Charles Musiba, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver, who helped make the discovery. "Our work shows that 1.5 million years ago we were not opportunistic ...
'Humanized' mice advance study of rheumatoid arthritis
2012-10-04
Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have developed the first animal model that duplicates the human response in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an important step that may enable scientists to discover better medicines to treat the disease.
Corresponding and senior author Harris Perlman, associate professor of rheumatology at Feinberg, introduced his team's new prototype mouse model in a recent online issue of the Journal of Translational Medicine.
"This is the first time human stem cells have been transplanted into mice in order to find RA ...
Progress reported in tackling initial, recurrent bouts of health care-associated infection
2012-10-04
CHICAGO — Surgeons are making progress toward preventing initial and recurrent episodes of clostridium difficile colitis (C. difficile or C. diff), a vicious bacterial infection that is estimated to affect about 336,000 people each year, typically patients on antibiotics. Using mouse models, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston, found that an oral medication may prevent C. difficile infections (CDI). Also, surgeons at Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, examined human patients to detect a genetic mutation that could steer ...
New human neurons from adult cells right there in the brain
2012-10-04
VIDEO:
This is a direct observation of neuronal reprogramming of PDGFR-sorted pericyte-derived cells from the adult human brain by continuous live imaging in culture.
Note the change in morphology of a cell...
Click here for more information.
Researchers have discovered a way to generate new human neurons from another type of adult cell found in our brains. The discovery, reported in the October 5th issue of Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, is one step toward cell-based ...
Newborn mice depend on mom's signature scent
2012-10-04
VIDEO:
For newborn mice to suckle for the very first time and survive, they depend on a signature blend of scents that is unique to their mothers. The findings, published online...
Click here for more information.
For newborn mice to suckle for the very first time and survive, they depend on a signature blend of scents that is unique to their mothers. The findings, published online on October 4 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, reveal that mom's natural perfume consists ...
Botox as effective as medication for urinary urgency incontinence
2012-10-04
MAYWOOD – Botox® (onabotulinum toxin-A) injections to the bladder are as effective as medication for treating urinary urgency incontinence in women, but the injection is twice as likely to completely resolve symptoms. These findings were published in the latest issue of The New England Journal of Medicine by a National Institutes of Health clinical trials network including Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM).
Urgency incontinence is urinary incontinence with a strong or sudden need to urinate. Traditionally, this condition has been treated with ...
Clot-busting enzymes are working 2 jobs
2012-10-04
The body's blood clot-busting enzymes are much busier than previously imagined, with new research showing that they also dispose of every cell that dies prematurely from disease or trauma.
In research published today in Cell Reports, scientists from Monash University have demonstrated for the first time the enzyme t-PA, which plays a vital role in the removal of blood clots, is also a major player in the removal of necrotic, or dead, cells.
Necrosis occurs when cells in living tissue die prematurely due to external stress or injury. The body's system for removing waste ...
The smell of Mom: Scientists find elusive trigger of first suckling in mice
2012-10-04
LA JOLLA, CA – A team led by biologists at The Scripps Research Institute has solved the long-standing scientific mystery of how mice first know to nurse or suckle.
This basic mammalian instinct, which could be a key to understanding instinctive behavior more generally, was thought to be triggered by a specific odor (pheromone) that all mouse mothers emit. But, as described online ahead of print by the journal Current Biology on October 4, 2012, the trigger in mice turns out to be a more complicated blend of nature and nurture: a signature mix of odors, unique for each ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
University of Oklahoma researcher awarded funding to pursue AI-powered material design
Exploring how the visual system recovers following injury
Support for parents with infants at pediatric check-ups leads to better reading and math skills in elementary school
Kids’ behavioral health is a growing share of family health costs
Day & night: Cancer disrupts the brain’s natural rhythm
COVID-19 vaccination significantly reduces risk to pregnant women and baby
The role of vaccination in maternal and perinatal outcomes associated with COVID-19 in pregnancy
Mayo Clinic smartwatch system helps parents shorten and defuse children's severe tantrums early
Behavioral health spending spikes to 40% of all children’s health expenditures, nearly doubling in a decade
Digital cognitive behavioral treatment for generalized anxiety disorder
Expenditures for pediatric behavioral health care over time and estimated family financial burden
Air conditioning in nursing homes and mortality during extreme heat
The Alps to lose a record number of glaciers in the next decade
What makes a good proton conductor?
New science reporting guide published for journalists in Bulgaria
New international study reveals major survival gaps among children with cancer
New science reporting guide published for journalists in Turkey
Scientists develop a smarter mRNA therapy that knows which cells to target
Neuroanatomy-informed brain–machine hybrid intelligence for robust acoustic target detection
Eight SwRI hydrogen projects funded by ENERGYWERX
The Lundquist Institute and its start-up company Vitalex Biosciences Announces Strategic Advancement of Second-Generation fungal Vaccine VXV-01 through Phase 1 Trials under $40 Million Competitive Con
Fine particles in pollution are associated with early signs of autoimmune disease
Review article | Towards a Global Ground-Based Earth Observatory (GGBEO): Leveraging existing systems and networks
Penn and UMich create world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots
Cleveland researchers launch first major study to address ‘hidden performance killer’ in athletes
To connect across politics, try saying what you oppose
Modulating key interaction prevents virus from entering cells
Project explores barriers to NHS career progression facing international medical graduates
Jeonbuk National University researchers explore the impact of different seasonings on the flavor perception of Doenjang soup
Two Keck Medicine of USC Hospitals named Leapfrog Top Teaching Hospitals
[Press-News.org] New Study Shows Marked Drop in PTSD Symptoms in Combat-Exposed Marines from Healing Touch and Guided ImageryStudy released in military medicine finds significant improvements in just three weeks.