Mindfulness Meditation: An Interesting Opportunity for the Rheumatologist

Mindfulness meditation is a mental technique which cultivates attentional focus and stability by directing the mind to remain connected to the present experience, moment by moment. Scientific literature in healthy subjects have correlated mindfulness training to improvements in stress, anxiety and depressed mood. Moreover, basing on evidence we can state that mindfulness may have an important role in treating somatic conditions such as psoriasis, cancer, HIV, infection, irritable bowel syndrome, heart disease, hypertension, lung disease, diabetes mellitus, and chronic pain. Although, researches specifically conducted on rheumatologic conditions are limited, some studies of the highest quality about mindfulness interventions in chronic pain have been in patients with osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. In rheumatic diseases, mindfulness meditation may have favourable effects on mental health, in particular on mood states and depression, and on different aspects of physical condition, through a variety of pathways including reduced inflammation, decreased sympathetic activation and improved neuroendocrine function. Thus, Mindfulness meditation is a good opportunity for patients thanks to its safety and it may be a powerful tool that can help the clinicians to manage the patient and improve the relationship between the patient and his illness and his body