Impact of a Massage Therapy Clinical Trial on Immune Status in Young Dominican Children Infected with HIV-1

Abstract

Together these findings support the role for massage therapy in immune preservation in HIV+ children.

Depression, mood, stress, and Th1/Th2 immune balance in primary breast cancer patients undergoing classical massage therapy

“…For example, natural killer (NK) cell activity and NK cell cytotoxicity have been found to be increased after massage therapy [23,29,32]. Elevated NK cell counts, cytotoxic T lymphocyte counts, and overall lymphocyte counts have also been found after massage therapy [23,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. However, not all studies could demonstrate significant immunological changes under massage therapy [22,39].…”

“…Studies which analyzed depression and mood under massage therapy in cancer patients found inconclusive results [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Furthermore, a few studies indicate that there are measurable immunological changes following massage therapy [23,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”

Massage therapy research review

“…6 Natural killer cells have also increased in children with HIV following massage. 64 Further, natural killer cells increased following a one-month period of moderate pressure massage for HIV- infected adolescents. 65 CD4 cells (the cells that are killed by the HIV virus) also increased in the adolescents, suggesting an improved clinical condition.…”

A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial of Massage Therapy on the Immune System of Preterm Infants

“…27 Impact of MT on immune parameters (including NK cell numbers) was evaluated in Dominican HIV-infected children aged 2 to 8 years (22 in the massage and 25 in the control group) for 3 months. 28 At the end of the study, increase in NK cells was noted in younger patients (2-to 4-year-olds) who received MT; however, evaluation of NK cytotoxicity was not performed.…”