Can Mind-Body Approaches Actually Be As Good As Or Better Than Pain Relieving Medication?

​In a study published in the March 22/29, 2016, issue of JAMA, 342 people ages 50 to 70 who’d had back pain for an average of more than seven years were randomly assigned to practice mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioral therapy, or receive conventional treatment. At the end of 26 weeks, significantly higher percentages of those who had mindfulness training or cognitive behavioral therapy reported improvements in function and pain relief compared with those who had conventional therapy; however, only the mindfulness group had sustained the improvements when surveyed 26 weeks after the program ended.

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