NEWS NOTES
compiled by Brandon Twyford
ABMP Associate Editor | brandon@abmp.com
C h e c k o u t A B M P 's l a t e s t n e w s a n d b l o g p o s t s . Av a i l a b l e a t w w w. a b m p . c o m . 15
The 2016 International Massage
Therapy Research Conference,
May 12–15 in Seattle, will feature
the following keynote speakers:
Wayne B. Jonas, MD
(Friday, May 13). Jonas is
president and chief executive
officer of the Samueli Institute,
a nonprofit medical research
organization supporting the
scientific investigation of healing
processes and their application
in health and disease. He serves
on the editorial boards of eight
peer-reviewed journals and on
the advisory or scientific boards
of six national and international
organizations.
Brent A. Bauer, MD
(Saturday, May 14). Bauer is
board-certified in internal
medicine, a professor of
medicine, and has been on
Mindfulness Training
Proves Effective
for Postpartum
Depression
A new study led by University of
Colorado at Boulder researchers found
pregnant and postpartum women at risk
of depression are less likely to suffer
depression when they meditate or practice
yoga than when they are treated with
psychotherapy and antidepressants.
The study focused on pregnant women
with histories of depression. Forty-three
subjects were randomized to a group that
underwent mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy, and 43 subjects were assigned
to a conventional treatment group.
Only 18 percent of the women in
the mindfulness group experienced
depression during pregnancy or after
they gave birth, while 50 percent of the
women in the conventional treatment
group experienced depression.
Lead researcher Sona Dimidjian,
associate professor of psychology and
neuroscience at the University of Colorado
at Boulder, writes, "The choice between
antidepressants and having untreated
depression is not the only option."
Read more at www.colorado.edu/
news/releases/2016/01/11/mindfulness-
training-more-effective-against-
postpartum-depression-conventional.
For more information on
mindfulness meditation, read "3 Steps
to Mindfulness Meditation" in the
Autumn 2015 issue of Body Sense magazine
at www.bodysensemagazinedigital.
com/i/574078-autumn-2015/14.
New Study
Suggests Reiki's
Effectiveness for
Pain Reduction
In a pilot study published in
Nursing aimed to determine the
impact of reiki therapy on pain
perception, reiki was shown to
have a statistically significant
effect on pain reduction.
The study sample included
43 patients undergoing total knee
arthoplasty (TKA). All subjects had
unilateral TKA at the same hospital
and were randomized into reiki and
nonreiki groups. Pain was assessed
before and after reiki therapy
using a numeric rating scale.
While several study limitations
were noted, the findings are
promising and provide a valid
groundwork for future studies.
As a result of the positive
feedback from patients and
decreased pain ratings following
reiki sessions, a reiki program
was established at the hospital,
and 10 nurses became trained
and certified in reiki.
Read the abstract at www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26760383.
For more information about reiki,
read "Reiki and PTSD" from the
November/December 2014 issue of
Massage & Bodywork magazine at
www.massageandbodyworkdigital.
com/i/398416-november-
december-2014/66.
staff at Mayo Clinic for 23
years. His main research
interest has been the scientific
evaluation of complementary
and alternative medicine
therapies that patients and
consumers are using with
increasing frequency.
Jo Smith, PhD (Sunday,
May 15). Smith is a leading
massage therapy educator and
researcher at the Southern
Institute of Technology in
Invercargill, New Zealand.
She also co-leads the New
Zealand Massage Therapy
Research Centre and is focused
on developing a culture of
massage therapy research
worldwide.
For more information, or
to register for the conference,
visit www.bit.ly/1Jyaxgb.
2016 IMTRC Keynote Speakers Announced
Wayne B. Jonas, MD
Brent A. Bauer, MD
Jo Smith, PhD