Mind-body health and integrative medicine pioneer Deepak Chopra, M.D., announced yesterday that the Mind Body Medical Group located at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing is working with researchers from the University of California, San Diego, and other renowned scientific institutions to study the health benefits of an integrative approach to healthcare.
This approach combines the newest discoveries in medical science with complementary practices rooted in wisdom traditions, including meditation and mindfulness, yoga, Ayurvedic massage, and other mind-body tools that allow individuals to influence their autonomic and endocrine system in order to facilitate self-repair, self-regulation, and homeostasis.
“We’re living in an exciting time of transformation in the field of medicine. Where scientists once believed that our genes dictated our health and destiny, new research now shows that we are not doomed to get the same illnesses as our parents and grandparents.
The emerging science of epigenetics has shown that through our daily lifestyle choices, we can influence the activity of our genes, ‘downregulating’ the genes causing inflammation associated with many chronic illnesses, while ‘upregulating’ the genes that influence homeostasis and self-regulation.
In short, we have an incredible power to prevent and even reverse disease through the lifestyle we create,” said Deepak Chopra.
“For many years, people from throughout the world have come to the Chopra Center to attend our Perfect Health program and experience our integrative approach to total wellbeing. Now we are also launching new studies of the Perfect Health program, looking at cell markers of aging, including the enzyme telomerase and its influence on the length of telomeres.
Similar studies by Dean Ornish, M.D. and others have shown enhancement in the telomeres and other cell markers will optimize healthy aging and wellbeing as it occurs with lifestyle changes.
The Chopra Center’s own studies are being conducted under the supervision of Paul Mills, PhD, a professor in the behavioral medicine program at UCSD, and Director of Collaborative Research Program Development at the UCSD Center of Integrative Medicine. The research focuses on measuring the effects of meditation on cell biology. We are looking at the Perfect Health program and its effects on cellular biology, including gene expression and proteomics.
In collaboration with several medical schools, the micro biometric results of this research will soon be published. Heart health and brainwave activity are also being monitored selectively on patients practicing Primordial Sound Meditation, as taught at the Chopra Center, through the latest digital technology,” Deepak Chopra said.
(Click here to watch Deepak Chopra discuss the relationship between integrative medicine and his own medical specialty of endocrinology and metabolism.)
The integrative physicians at the Mind Body Medical Group located at the Chopra Center are board-certified doctors as well as experts in Ayurveda and other traditional healing systems. They offer individual mind-body medical consultations as well as group programs such as the Chopra Center’s Perfect Health program.
Developed by Chopra Center co-founders, Deepak Chopra, M.D. and David Simon, M.D., Perfect Health is a 6- or 10-day healing immersion where guests experience daily customized Ayurvedic massage treatments, a mind-body medical consultation, and a mild detox that helps to change the body’s microbiome through the use of plant-based fiber, herbs, and vegetable oils (click here to watch a video of Deepak Chopra interviewing Dr. Larry Smarr about the Mind Brain Genome Microbiome).
Perfect Health also includes daily sessions led by the Center’s master educators in Primordial Sound Meditation, yoga, stress management, nutritional guidance, and the healing wisdom embodied in the traditions of Ayurveda.
The Mind Body Medical Group and the Chopra Center also offer Journey into Healing, an accredited course in integrative medicine that offers AMA-approved CME credits to physicians and medical professionals in partnership with the UCSD School of Medicine. This experiential workshop is for health care professionals who want to expand their knowledge of mind-body medicine and patient care.