By Kate Melville / Source: ScienceAGoGo.com
Researchers at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) report that the practice of mindfulness meditation can halt the decline of CD4-T cells in HIV-positive patients.
CD4-T cells are the "brains" of the immune system, but they are also the cells that are attacked by HIV, which slowly eats away at the CD4-T cells and weakens the immune system.
Scientists have known for some time that stress also accelerates CD4-T cell decline, making the combination of stress and HIV a potentially deadly combination.
"This study provides the first indication that mindfulness meditation stress-management training can have a direct impact on slowing HIV disease progression," said UCLA's David Creswell. "The mindfulness program is a group-based and low-cost treatment, and if this initial finding is replicated in larger samples, it's possible that such training can be used as a powerful complementary treatment for HIV disease, alongside medications."
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