Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston reviewed the impact of mindfulness meditation on cancer patients. A literature search produced 9 research articles published in the past 5 years, and 5 conference abstracts published in 2004. Most studies were conducted with breast and prostate cancer patients, and the mindfulness intervention was done in a clinic-based group setting.

The search revealed consistent benefits--improved psychological functioning, reduction of stress symptoms, enhanced coping and improved sense of well-being in cancer outpatients.

Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, UK compared the effectiveness of treatment as usual with an additional 22 sessions of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in 253 individuals with bipolar disorders, to see if recurrence rates of major mood episodes could be reduced. . Patients were assessed every 8 weeks for 18 months.

Researchers at Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center studied the the effects of varying the amount of physical practice and mental imagery rehearsal on learning basic surgical procedures. Using a sample of 65 second-year medical students, 3 randomized groups received either: (1) 3 sessions of physical practice on suturing a pig''s foot; (2) 2 sessions of physical practice and 1 session of mental imagery rehearsal; or (3) 1 session of physical practice and 2 sessions of imagery rehearsal. All participants then performed a surgery on a live rabbit in the operating theater of a veterinary college under approved conditions. Analysis of variance was applied to pre- and post-treatment ratings of surgical performance.

Researchers from the Department of Dermatology at Academic Hospital/Free University in Brussels, investigated the influence of hypnotherapy on alopecia areata or AA (a condition of rapid hair loss). Hypnosis was used in 28 patients with extensive AA whose condition was resistant to earlier conventional treatments. The hypnotherapy was either added as a complementary treatment or used as the only treatment.

Researchers from the School of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Durham at Stockton-on-Tees in the UK examined the effect of movement and stretching imagery on increasing flexibility in a randomized, controlled trial.

Thirty volunteers took part in a 4 week flexibility training program. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) movement imagery, where participants imagined moving the limb they were stretching; (2) stretching imagery, where participants imagined the physiological processes involved in stretching the muscle; and (3) a control condition, where participants did not engage in mental imagery.

Researchers from the Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior at Kyoto University Graduate School of Public Health in Japan investigated differences in relaxation induced by guided imagery in healthy community samples.

One hundred forty-eight people took part in the study, with the mean age of the 50 males and 98 females 39.36 +/- 11.86 years. Saliva samples were taken to measure salivary cortisol (SC) before the first session, after the first session, and after the second session. In addition, subjects were asked to complete the short form of the Multiple Mood Scale (MMS) questionnaire before the first session and after the second session. The shortened form of Betts'' Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (QMI) was collected once before the first session, and vividness of the imagery was measured using a visual analogue scale once after the second session.

Psychologists from UCLA compared outcomes from adding cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to medications for the treatment of panic disorder, as compared to using medications alone.

Primary-care patients with panic disorder reported on their receipt of CBT and medications over the 3 months following a baseline assessment. The degree to which outcomes for those who used anti-panic medications were enhanced by the receipt of at least one component of CBT was analyzed (using a propensity score model that took into account observable baseline patient characteristics influencing both treatment selection and outcomes.)