MINDFULNESS

Present Moment Awareness

Mindfulness can be defined as a state of active, open attention on the present. Jon Kabat-Zinn is professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he founded the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society, and introduced the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course in 1979. (1) 

Focusing on the present moment without judgement is the root of mindfulness. Learning to cope with stressors whether it be pain, emotions, attentional problems, immune function or drug addiction, one can learn to engage in new practices that will induce positive changes in our bodies reaction to a stimuli. 

Studies show that the ways we intentionally shape our internal focus of attention in mindfulness practice induces a state of brain activation during the practice. With repetition, an intentionally created state can become an enduring trait of the individual as reflected in long-term changes in brain function and structure. This is a fundamental property of neuroplasticity—how the brain changes in response to experience. Here, the experience is the focus of attention in a particular manner. (2)

Mindfulness practices may include yoga, tai chi, qi gong or meditation. These practices are being utilized in a wide variety of settings and for diverse populations of individuals. Some interesting uses are to keep kids in school, workplace stress, prison inmates, and binge eating to name a few. View the links below for further details.

Yoga and school children: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/07/24/how-yoga-might-save-the-u-s-trillions-of-dollars-and-a-lot-of-lives/

21 Ways to reduce workplace stress: http://www.bemindful.org/mindmastery.pdf

Prison and yoga: https://www.nicabm.com/nicabmblog/how-prisoners-are-benefiting-from-yoga/

Mindful eating: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/mindful-eating-as-food-for-thought.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 (3)

Recommended books on Mindfulness:
*Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Prof. Brian Wansink
*Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Dr. Cheung and Thich Nhat Hanh
*The Mindful Way Through Depression by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn
*Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Penman (2)
*Little Flower Yoga For Kids: A Yoga and Mindfulness Program to Help Your Child Improve Attention and Emotional Balance by Jennifer Cohen Harper

References
1. http://www.mindful.org/author/jon-kabat-zinn
2. http://www.mindful.org/the-science/medicine/the-science-of-mindfulness
3. http://oxfordmindfulness.org/science/

Image courtesy of: http://www.google.com/imgresimgurl=http://www.ldatd.on.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2012/01/mindfulness.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ldatd.on.ca/programschildren-teensmindfulness-for-kids

Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

Prevention and Management with Natural Therapies

Chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is one of the more common side effects of cancer therapy. CIPN is generally thought to arise as a consequence of disruption of axoplasmic microtubule-mediated transport, distal axonal degeneration, and direct damage to the sensory nerve cell bodies of the dorsal root ganglia (1). (See diagram below) Symptoms generally start with a sense of numbness in the fingertips, toes and soles of the feet and may slowly progress to tingling and pain that can extend to the hands, arms, ankles and legs. Pain and discomfort vary from person to person but can become severe and debilitating affecting ones quality of life and ability to perform daily tasks.

Certain classes of chemotherapy drugs tend to cause CIPN. For a thorough list of these medications and other possible contributing factors go to:
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/physicalsideeffects/chemotherapyeffects/peripheralneuropathy/peripheral-neuropathy-caused-by-chemotherapy-how-does-cipn-start 

Conventional Treatment Options

The best way to treat CIPN is to prevent it from occurring or progressing. Symptoms may resolve after completion of chemotherapy or may persist in some cases. Let your oncologist know as soon as you begin experiencing symptoms. Your doctor may choose to adjust your chemotherapy dose, delay treatment or even discontinue the causative medication. Ultimately, the goal is to prevent long-lasting harmful side effects while getting the optimal dose of recommended chemotherapeutic agents.

Managing CIPN with medications can be effective for symptom relief. Commonly prescribed treatments are steroids, pain creams, anti-depressants and anti-convulsants, narcotics or opioids. Often if symptoms are severe, multiple medications to manage symptoms may be prescribed. Physical and occupational therapy may also be recommended in some cases.

Alternative Therapies
Aside from the above treatments, other natural supportive therapies can be utilized in conjunction or alone to alleviate CIPN. Small studies using acupuncture to manage CIPN symptoms are showing positive outcomes. Studies have shown that after multiple acupuncture treatments, nerve conduction is improved in patients with CIPN (2). The Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment goal is to improve the flow of blood and qi to the extremities and improve blood, qi and yang deficiency in the body.

Nutritional supplementation may also have some benefit. Supportive evidence using L-glutamine, alpha-lipoic acid and L-carnitine have each shown some positive response with preventing or treating peripheral neuropathy. Protecting and healing the nerves is the mechanism of action with these supplements. If known peripheral nerve damaging chemotherapy medications are being prescribed, initiating these supplements before symptoms even start can help prevent it from occurring or can delay progression and intensity of nerve damage. Discuss with your naturopath and oncologist before taking these supplements as timing around chemotherapy is important to prevent interaction.

Supportive data on each of the supplements can be found at:
Glutamine: http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/7/5/1192.full
Alpha-lipoic acid: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2772894/
Acetyl-L-Carnitine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1805703/


References
1. http://www.lwwoncology.com/Textbook/Content.aspx?aid=9826770
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22146780

Image of nerve compliments of: https://thombiology30.wikispaces.com/file/view/nerve_diagram.jpg/311184500/431x299/nerve_diagram.jpg
Image of feet compliments of: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.briandorfman.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/047feet_468x611.jpg&imgrefurl