Through meditation, breathing exercises and other similar exercises, a person is able to control the immune system, scientists have found. The nervous system is known to affect the immune system, writes The Times of India. Matthijs Cox of Radbaud University Medical Center has researched the issue.
He was interested in Wim Hof, who got into the Guinness Book of Records as a person who resists the cold. Hof is able to take ice baths, and he climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro in only shorts. There is a "Hof technique" that is designed to reduce sensitivity to cold.
Cox gathered two groups of volunteers. One trained according to Hof, and the second was a control one. So, the training methodology was based on swimming in cold water, lying on the snow, breathing and meditative practices. An inflammatory test was performed, which showed that the training group showed less cold symptoms.
Its members also produced fewer inflammation-related proteins and more anti-inflammatory protein interleukan-10. According to the scientist, the tried and tested comprehensive approach should be adopted by people with chronic inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease.