Which works better to heal inflammation — distraction from the pain or attention to it?

New research from Bar-Ilan University found that contrary to popular belief, 90% of people who focused their conscious attention on an inflamed spot on their body recovered faster than those who tried to ignore it.

The landmark study, published today in Nature Human Behaviour, demonstrates for the first time that focused attention can dial down acute biological inflammation in real time.

“I’ve studied humans for more than 20 years, and this was the most striking effect I’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Liron Rozenkrantz, assistant professor at the university’s Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, who supervised the study. Dr. Nofar Mizrachi led and conducted the research in collaboration with Prof. Menachem Rottem, head of the Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Service at Emek Medical Center in Afula.

The researchers said the findings could help people learn to use targeted attention training alongside traditional medical treatments to relieve chronic inflammatory conditions and autoimmune diseases.

“Our cognitive processes can shape how the body regulates itself,” Rozenkrantz said. “Feeling pain does contribute to the healing process.”

“People are aware of the placebo effect, when someone is given a sham drug, and they think it’s real and they get better,” Rozenkrantz said.

Researchers in her lab take that idea one step further to explore how people’s perceptions can alter a disease’s progress or improve treatment efficacy.

“We tend to think of the immune system, injury, or inflammation resolution as something that can take care of itself without any involvement of any high cognitive function,” Rozenkrantz said. “But what happens if the mind focuses on the pain? Does directing the brain toward the injury actually impact its healing? That’s never been studied in humans........

© The Times of Israel