Impact of Relaxation and Imagery on Asthma
From the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine at Technische Universitaet Muenchen in Munich, Germany, investigated the immunological impact of relaxation and imagery on asthma by measuring the effects these techniques have on serum IgE in adult patients with dust mite allergic asthma in a randomized, controlled trial.
Sixty-four patients were treated over a 4-week period and assessed at baseline, after treatment and after 4 months for follow-up. Participation in relaxation, guided imagery and a combination of both strategies led to decreases in serum IgE (IU/mL) of -54.7 +/- 67.1, -49.5 +/- 93.4, and -28.4 +/- 93.9 respectively, as compared with an increase of 27.7 +/- 43.2 in the controls. The investigators conclude that the study confirms a positive and clinically relevant impact of relaxation and guided imagery on total serum IgE levels.
Citation: Lahmann C, Henningsen P, Schulz C, Schuster T, Sauer N, Noll-Hussong M, Ronel J, Tritt K, Loew T. Effects of functional relaxation and guided imagery on IgE in dust-mite allergic adult asthmatics: a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders. 2010 Feb; 198 (2): pp. 125-30. lahmann@tum.de