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Meditation can take many different forms, each of which may have specific and different health effects. A recent health technology report completed by the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ) located 813 studies of meditation with health outcomes. It concluded that the majority of the studies were of such low methodologic quality that few recommendations could be made for its use for any health condition. Subsequent publications have pointed out very vaild limitations to this report and question the conclusions, particularly for the use of meditation for hypertension.
The three meditation techniques that have been most widely researched in regard to health outcomes are:
It is important to become familiar with these techniques so that you may properly describe them to your patients. In the sections that follow, you will find information on their efficacy and safety as well as ease of community accessibility.
One popular form meditation that is not discussed in this unit is Zen meditation. While this practice has a strong presence in the Washtenaw community and nationwide, there are very few scientiifc studies that have investigated its effects on mental or physical health.
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