Many alternative or complementary therapies have been examined to determine their effectiveness for arthritis. The problem is that research studies often present with conflicting results. Some studies are positive and others are negative. That has been found to be the case for treatments such as acupuncture, nutritional supplements, homeopathy, etc.
A recent research study concluded that meditation reduced psychological distress and led to a small reduction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity. The improvement in disease activity was accompanied by a statistically significant fall in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a blood marker of inflammation.

The study was conducted at the University of Marylands Center for Integrated Medicine. And the results were presented at the 2005 annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology held in San Diego, California.

Trial design had patients meditating for an hour each day for six days a week. Patients were compliant, with 85% still using the program at six months. The intervention was safe with no adverse events.

The actual treatment group had classes lasting 2.5 hours once a week for eight weeks and were asked to practice for 45 minutes to an hour each day for six days a week. The control group did not have treatments. Both groups continued with all their usual medications and were well-matched as far as drug therapy (75% were on disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, 16% on biologics, 32% on steroids, and 51% on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). There were a total of 63 patients, mostly female and well educated.

At the beginning of the study, both groups had similar levels of psychological distress (measured by the Symptom Checklist-90, which covers symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, and interpersonal relationships). Both groups also had a similar level of RA disease activity.

The treatment group showed a 30% reduction in psychological distress at 10 weeks (compared with a 10% reduction in the control group) and a 33% reduction (compared with 2%) at 24 weeks. Both reductions in the intervention group were statistically significant.

RA disease activity showed no change in either group at week 10, but by week 24 the intervention group showed a reduction of 11%, compared with no change in the control group. What was deemed particularly interesting was that the fall in disease activity was accompanied by a reduction in ESRthis fell by 23% by week 10 and by 33% by week 24, while the control group members showed a worsening for this specific test.

All in all, meditation is cheap, safe, and appears to be effective (until the next study comes along...) Obviously, a person needs to be receptive to this form of treatment.