Caregiving for a dementia patient is associated with increased risk of psychological and physical health problems. We investigated whether a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training course for caregivers that closely models the MBSR curriculum originally established by the Center of Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts may improve the psychological resilience of non-professional caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients. Twenty adult non-professional caregivers of dementia patients participated in an 8-week MBSR training course. Caregiver stress, depression, burden, grief, and gene expression profiles of blood mononuclear cells were assessed at baseline and following MBSR. MBSR training significantly improved the psychological resilience of some of the caregivers. We identified predictive biomarkers whose expression is associated with the likelihood of caregivers to benefit from MBSR, and biomarkers whose expression is associated with MBSR psychological benefits. Our biomarker studies provide insight into the mechanisms of health benefits of MBSR and a basis for developing a personalized medicine approach for applying MBSR for promoting psychological and cognitive resilience in caregivers of dementia patients.
Caregivers have been shown to be at increased risk of emotional stress, depression, medical illness, and death. Studies of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) have established its efficacy in reducing stress and physical and psychological concomitants of stress in multiple patient populations. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of MBSR in reducing caregiver stress, as measured by psychological and biological markers.
Caregiving for a dementia patient is associated with an increased risk for emotional distress, depression, dementia, physical health problems and death. Targeting caregivers as the recipients of interventions may greatly improve patient care. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a clinical intervention based on simple meditation practices which have been shown to reduce stress and improve chronic disease outcomes for many different psychological and medical problems. We explored the effectiveness of MBSR at reducing caregiver stress, as measured by psychological and biological markers. We found that MBSR is an effective means to improve the psychological health status of caregivers for dementia patients. Interestingly, we found some of our caregiver participants benefited from MBSR while others did not. Moreover, we identified multiple biomarkers for which contents in the circulating blood were correlated with psychological indices of stress reduction following MBSR and other biomarkers for which baseline blood contents prior to MBSR were predictive of the likelihood of positive response to MBSR. Our observations provide a window into the mechanisms underlying the health benefits of MBSR intervention and provide a logical basis for developing a personalized medicine approach for applying MBSR intervention to a diverse population of caregivers. Supported by discretionary funding to GMP
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