'Treating Pain with Mind-Body Therapies' - Mindfulness Center Hosts Major Research Conference, Workshops April 17-19
WASHINGTON, March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With pain affecting more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined and the use of pain medications growing, The Mindfulness Center, a respected Bethesda, MD based nonprofit, will host a major research conference and experiential workshops on "Treating Pain with Mind-Body Therapies" April 17-19.
It's part of their third Mind-Body Week, a public health initiative that brings together noted researchers, medical, health-and-wellness practitioners (meditation, tai chi, Qi Gong, yoga, acupuncture, reiki), and consumers who want to learn more about how to supplement medical treatment of such issues as fibromyalgia, cancer, PTSD, arthritis, muscular skeletal, and other pain. Registration and additional information.
"Pain costs the US more than $600 billion annually in medical costs and work losses and is the number one reason people seek medical care. New medical research documents the benefits of mind-body therapies in treating pain," states Dr. Deborah Norris, founder and executive director of The Mindfulness Center and health scientist with more than 30 years of experience in research, clinical application, and education. "The Children's National Medical Center, Department of Veteran's Affairs, and some other major medical organizations are adopting mind-body therapies as part of their standard of care. Working together, we can reduce pain and costs and benefit patients."
Keynoting the research conference on April 17:
- Sara Lazar, Ph.D., associate researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Self-care Practices to Alleviate Pain: Neuroimaging Techniques to Study Changes associated with Meditation." Her research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, in clinical settings and in healthy individuals. She has collaborated with the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School. Her research has been covered by The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and WebMD.
- Chenchen Wang, M.D., M.Sc., associate professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and director of the Center for Integrative Medicine Program at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. "Tai Chi/Qigong: Self-Practice Mind-Body Therapies." Her research focuses on epidemiological and clinical studies of complementary health approaches and their use as treatments for chronic rheumatic conditions, particularly osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and systematic lupus erythematosus.
"Healthcare is at a crossroads, or even a total paradigm shift," states Tiffany Kuo, chair of Mind-Body Week. "The National Institutes of Health's renaming of its former National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to the newly recognized National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) reflects this shift. Through leading-edge research and master-led experiential workshops, Mind-Body Week D.C. reflects the spirit of integrated collaboration and inspires transformation and healing of our healthcare models and personal health. It gives individuals some power and a role in their own healing," she adds.
A portion of registration fees and funding from sponsors supports veterans attending the conference and workshops for free. Some 5.7 million veterans suffer from musculoskeletal pain, and the cost of treating our nation's heroes has risen to more than $49 billion a year.
The Mindfulness Center is a non-profit organization which promotes health and self-healing, for individuals and the community, through charitable, educational and research programs in mind-body practices.
Contact for advance media interviews or coverage:
Rozanne Weissman [email protected] 202-904-4490
Bridget Pooley [email protected] 240-354-2037
SOURCE The Mindfulness Center
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