For centuries, cultures and religions across the globe have practiced meditation as a form of worship.  In more recent times, researchers have hypothesized that the practice brings health benefits along with it – reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, even alleviating the symptoms of epilepsy.

While more than 1,000 studies have been conducted on the benefits of meditation, several systematic reviews in recent years have all drawn the same conclusion: Scientific research on meditation practices lacks a common theoretical perspective and tends to suffer from poor research methods. 

While there doesn’t seem to be any adverse effects to practicing meditation, more vigorous studies are needed to prove that it can actually improve health.

Across the globe, many researchers are doing just that – conducting new, methodically-sound studies on the benefits of meditation.

One new paper published in the Journal of Neuroscience this spring used magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to demonstrate the meditation can reduce the experience of pain, as well as pain-related brain activation.

“This is the first study to show that only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain and pain-related brain activation,” Fadel Zeidan, lead author of the study and post-doctoral research fellow at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, explained in an article published in ScienceDaily.

The study was small, with only 15 healthy volunteers participating. But they saw about a 40 percent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 percent reduction in pain unpleasantness. (In contrast, pain-relieving drugs typically reduce pain levels by about 25 percent.)

More work is still needed. But these initial results are promising – not only for the health benefits they document, but also because they’re paving the way toward a higher-quality body of evidence on the benefits of meditation.

While our family is spending a week at the beach – as I’m sure many others are this summer, too – I thought it would be appropriate to share my pre-vacation research on sunscreen.

There are all sorts of sunscreens on the market these days, with SPFs ranging from 15 to 50+. There are chemical sunscreens, which soak into the skin and absorb UV light, and mineral sunscreens that sit on top of the skin and block UV light. 

With all of the options out there, I wanted to know what’s the best way to avoid and sunburn and help prevent skin cancer?

After sifting through dozens of fact sheets and studies, I found a good summary of the evidence at the Environmental Working Group’s web site.  The group weighs the pros and cons of using sunblock and explains how various ingredients work.

Among the highlights, I learned that most people don’t apply enough sunscreen to achieve the maximum amount of sun protection.   In fact, the best time to apply it is 15-30 minutes before heading outside.

Both chemical and mineral sunscreens work well.  The important factor to look for is a “broad spectrum” sunscreen, which blocks both UVA and UVB rays.

If you’re interested in looking up a specific product, the Environmental Working Group has a database of sunscreens that evaluates the ingredients in more than 1,700 sunscreens.  The group suggests avoiding ingredients with unknown side effects.

Whew!  Now that I’ve got that figured out, we’re off to the beach.

 Botox – an injection that temporarily prevents formation of wrinkles by paralyzing facial muscles – is the most common cosmetic procedure in the United States.  According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, some 4.6 million people receive the treatment annually.

Today, there is new evidence that the wrinkle-reducer is hampers the ability to understand what others are feeling.

A new study has found that people who have had Botox injections are physically unable to mimic the emotions of others, ultimately preventing them from understanding what others are feeling. The New York Times summed up the research in a recent article. 

In the study, women who had been injected with Botox looked at a set of photographs of human eyes and were asked to match them with human emotions. They were compared to a control group, who received a facial injection that does not paralyze facial muscles.

Those who received Botox were significantly less accurate at identifying emotions compared to the control group.

While this is just one study, it’s good evidence that you can never know the full impact of a medical treatment until you investigate all of the possibilities.