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Mind–body interventions

Applications in neurology

From the Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Helané Wahbeh, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Mail Code CR120, Portland, OR 97239.

Objective: Half of the adults in the United States use complementary and alternative medicine with mind–body therapy being the most commonly used form. Neurology patients often turn to their physicians for insight into the effectiveness of the therapies and resources to integrate them into their care. The objective of this article is to give a clinical overview of mind–body interventions and their applications in neurology.

Methods: Medline and PsychInfo were searched on mind–body therapies and neurologic disease search terms for clinical trials and reviews and published evidence was graded.

Results: Meditation, relaxation, and breathing techniques, yoga, tai chi, and qigong, hypnosis, and biofeedback are described. Mind–body therapy application to general pain, back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, muscular dysfunction, stroke, aging, Parkinson disease, stroke, and attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder are reviewed.

Conclusions: There are several conditions where the evidence for mind–body therapies is quite strong such as migraine headache. Mind–body therapies for other neurology applications have limited evidence due mostly to small clinical trials and inadequate control groups.

Abbreviations: ADHD = attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder; CAM = complementary and alternative medicine; PD = Parkinson disease; PRT = progressive relaxation training; QS = quiet sitting; RCT = randomized controlled trial.

Supplemental data at www.neurology.org

Funded in part by NIH U19 AT002656 (B.S.O.), NIH T32 AT002688 (H.W., B.S.O.), NIH 1 K23 AT01993-01 (S.-M.E.), NIH UL1 RR024140 (H.W.), MRF 0425 (S.-M.E.).

Disclosure: The authors report no disclosures.

Received December 14, 2007. Accepted in final form January 23, 2008.