2016 IMTRC Keynote Speakers Announced
The 2016 International Massage Therapy Research Conference, May 12–15 in Seattle, will feature the following keynote speakers:
Wayne B. Jonas, MD (Friday, May 13). Jonas is president and chief executive officer of the Samueli Institute, a nonprofit medical research organization supporting the scientific investigation of healing processes and their application in health and disease. He serves on the editorial boards of eight peer-reviewed journals and on the advisory or scientific boards of six national and international organizations.
Brent A. Bauer, MD (Saturday, May 14). Bauer is board-certified in internal medicine, a professor of medicine, and has been on staff at Mayo Clinic for 23 years. His main research interest has been the scientific evaluation of complementary and alternative medicine therapies that patients and consumers are using with increasing frequency.
Jo Smith, PhD (Sunday, May 15). Smith is a leading massage therapy educator and researcher at the Southern Institute of Technology in Invercargill, New Zealand. She also co-leads the New Zealand Massage Therapy Research Centre and is focused on developing a culture of massage therapy research worldwide.
For more information, or to register for the conference, visit www.bit.ly/1Jyaxgb.
Mindful Training Proves Effective for Postpartum Depression
A new study led by University of Colorado at Boulder researchers found pregnant and postpartum women at risk of depression are less likely to suffer depression when they meditate or practice yoga than when they are treated with psychotherapy and antidepressants.
The study focused on pregnant women with histories of depression. Forty-three subjects were randomized to a group that underwent mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and 43 subjects were assigned to a conventional treatment group.
Only 18 percent of the women in the mindfulness group experienced depression during pregnancy or after they gave birth, while 50 percent of the women in the conventional treatment group experienced depression.
Lead researcher Sona Dimidjian, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, writes, “The choice between antidepressants and having untreated depression is not the only option.”
Read more at www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2016/01/11/mindfulness-training-more-effective-against-postpartum-depression-conventional.
For more information on mindfulness meditation, read “3 Steps to Mindfulness Meditation” in the Autumn 2015 issue of Body Sense magazine at www.bodysensemagazinedigital.com/i/574078-autumn-2015/14.
New Study Suggests Reiki's Effectiveness for Pain Reduction
In a pilot study published in Nursing aimed to determine the impact of reiki therapy on pain perception, reiki was shown to have a statistically significant effect on pain reduction.
The study sample included 43 patients undergoing total knee arthoplasty (TKA). All subjects had unilateral TKA at the same hospital and were randomized into reiki and nonreiki groups. Pain was assessed before and after reiki therapy using a numeric rating scale.
While several study limitations were noted, the findings are promising and provide a valid groundwork for future studies.
As a result of the positive feedback from patients and decreased pain ratings following reiki sessions, a reiki program was established at the hospital, and 10 nurses became trained and certified in reiki.
Read the abstract at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26760383.
For more information about reiki, read “Reiki and PTSD” from the November/December 2014 issue of Massage & Bodywork magazine at www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/398416-november-december-2014/66.