Author: Hyun-Jeong Yang1,2, Noriko Setou3, Eugene Koh4
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Korea Institute of Brain Science, Seoul 06022, Korea.
<sup>2</sup> Department of Integrative Health Care, University of Brain Education, Cheonan 31228, Korea.
<sup>3</sup> Department of Disaster Psychiatry, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan.
<sup>4</sup> Temasek Life Sciences Laboratories, Singapore 117604, Singapore.
Conference/Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health
Date published: 2022 May 29
Other:
Volume ID: 19 , Issue ID: 11 , Pages: 6618 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3390/ijerph19116618. , Word Count: 212
Recent findings suggest a correlation between COVID-19 and diabetes, although the underlying causes are still little understood. COVID-19 infection tends to induce severe symptoms in patients with underlying diabetes, increasing their mortality rate. Moreover, COVID-19 itself appears to be a diabetogenic factor. In addition, mental health conditions, such as depression due to lockdown and anxiety about infection, were found to affect glycemic control and immunity, highlighting the importance of mental health care during the pandemic. Mind-Body Intervention (MBI), which includes meditation, yoga, and qigong, has emerged as a tool for mental health management due to its effects on stress reduction and the promotion of mental and physical well-being. Here, we review the latest randomized controlled trials to determine the effects of MBI on glycemic control and the immune system and discuss the underlying mechanisms by which MBI facilitates the virtuous cycle of stress management, glycemic control, and immune modulation. Furthermore, we examine the actual utilization of MBI during the COVID-19 pandemic era through recent studies. With proper online education, non-pharmacological MBI may be more widely used as an important tool for self-health care that complements the usual treatment of COVID-19 patients and survivors.
Keywords: COVID-19; Mind–Body Intervention; blood glucose; diabetes; immune; long COVID; mental health; stress.
PMID: 35682203 PMCID: PMC9180827 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19116618