Impact of Integrated Amrita Meditation^® technique on stress in type 2 diabetic patients

Several studies on mind-body relaxation techniques have demonstrated a reduction in psychological stress levels. Implementation of such cost-effective, persons suffering from chronic disorders would be beneficial for the diabetic population. This study was undertaken to understand the effect of Integrated Amrita Meditation^® technique (IAM^®) technique on stress and its benefit in attaining a better glycaemic control.

Thirty type 2 diabetic patients aged between 30 and 65 yr were consecutively recruited for the study. They were randomly allocated to IAM^® and control groups. Weight, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated haemoglobin (HbA_1c) and perceived stress scale (PSS) were the variables assessed pre- and post-intervention during the three-month study period.

The mean changes between baseline and three months in the experimental group showed statistically significant decrease in HbA_1c (P=0.018) as well as psychological stress (P<0.001), whereas an increase in weight (P=0.046) and FBG (P=0.029) was observed in the control group. When the pre- and post-mean changes of the study variables were assessed between the two groups, the differences obtained were statistically significant for weight (P=0.048), BMI (P=0.055), HbA_1c (P=0.034) and PSS (P≤0.001).

The findings suggest that stress is an important risk factor hindering the glycaemic control of diabetic patients. Through reduction of psychological stress by IAM^® practice, diabetic patients can attain a better glycaemic control along with the usual treatment regimens.