Saturday, 10 August 2013

Just 2 weeks of mindfulness meditation training help reduce smoking and craving for cigarettes

Results from a study conducted by investigators at the University of Oregon in Eugene showed that integrative body-mind training (IBMT) helped curtail cigarette consumption by up to 60% in smokers who underwent 5 hours of training during a 2-week period. In comparison, a control group who underwent relaxation therapy showed no reduction in smoking. The study was published online August 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

One reason for substance abuse and addiction may involve a lack of self-control, which raises the question of whether an intervention to improve self-control could change smoking behavior. Mindfulness training has shown some proof of efficacy in substance abuse, but a lack of adequate control conditions, failure to randomize participants, and a failure to assess biological markers of change have limited the research.

IBMT has been shown to reduce stress, increase positive emotion, and improve attention and self-control after a few hours of practice compared with the same amount of relaxation training.


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