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The proofs that massage works
Massage has been used extensively to aid relaxation and to lower the
amount of stress we experienced daily. It directly affects the body systems
that govern the heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory and the digestive
process.
Outlined below are only a sample of the effectiveness of massage. The
number of studies conducted is enormous and we do not think that we would
want to put it all here. However, after looking at these, we hope it provides
an illustration of how massage should be treated as an alternative or complementary
care for various illness.
1. Anxiety
At the Royal Marsden Hospital, London in 1995 massage was shown to reduce
the amount of anxiety felt by cancer patients and at the same time improves
their quality of life
2. Touch Institute
One of the institutions that spend a great deal of time researching the
effect of massage is the Touch Institute, University of Miami, Florida.
Let us see what are the research outcomes from their experiment:
- HIV patient
HIV positive men, when massaged daily, will produce more of the natural
cells that destroy bacteria and viruses.
- Asthma
Asthmatic children were found to breathe more easily and suffered less
number of attacks when they were massaged by their parents
- Diabetics
In diabetics’ children, their glucose level fell to normal when massaged
for 4 weeks
- Premature Babies
Another study was conducted in 1986 on premature babies. Babies that were
stroked daily were reported to have gained 47 % more weight, were more
active and left hospital much earlier than premature babies who were not
stroked.
Apart from these, the institute has also documented various positive
effects of massage. In 1992, in treating patients who were depressed,
daily massage was also shown to be more effective than a relaxation video.
3. Cancer patients
In the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, breast cancer patients was reported
to have improve immune and neuroendocrine function following massage therapy.
In other studies, massage therapy has been reported to reduced anxiety
and depression while at the same time improved immune function including
increasing the number of natural killer cells.
4. Reduce Labor Pain
This is a good news to women out there. In the Psychosomatic Obstetrics
and Gynecology,18, massage therapy during the first 15 minutes of every
hour of labor was reported to decrease anxiety and pain. In addition,
the massaged mothers had shorter labor, shorter hospital stay and less
depressed mood
5. Leukemia
In the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapy,3, there was a study on
the effect of massage on kids with leukemia. In the study, twenty children
with leukemia were provided with daily massages by their parents and were
compared to a standard treatment control group.
Following a month of massage therapy, the study reported that depressed
mood decreased in the children's parents, and the children's white blood
cell and neutrophil counts increased.
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