Islamabad - A new study sheds light on why people who attend spiritual retreats report greater psychological well-being, after finding that such retreats may increase levels of ‘feel-good’ hormones in the brain.

Co-author Dr Andrew Newberg, director of research in the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University, and colleagues say their study provides insight into the emotional impact of spiritual practices.

“Since serotonin and dopamine are part of the reward and emotional systems of the brain, it helps us understand why these practices result in powerful, positive emotional experiences,” says Dr Newberg.

Spiritual retreats can be defined as a place for people of varying spiritual beliefs to engage in practices aimed at reinforcing their faith and improving their health and well-being.

According to the researchers, an increasing number of people are visiting such retreats, and studies have shown that these individuals often report a reduction in anxiety, stress, and other psychological benefits.

For their study, the researchers enrolled 14 Christian adults aged 24-76 years. Subjects were required to visit an Ignatian retreat for 7 days. Here, the participants engaged in spiritual exercises created by St Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Jesuits.

Each day, the participants attended a morning mass. For the rest of the day, subjects engaged in silent contemplation, prayer, and reflection. They also met with a spiritual director, who provided spiritual guidance and information on the aims of the retreat.

Before and after visiting the retreat, participants underwent DaTscan single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which enabled the researchers to assess their brain activity.

Subjects also completed a series of questionnaires that assessed their physical and psychological well-being.

After the 7-day retreat, participants demonstrated a 5-8 per cent reduction in dopamine transporter binding, as well as a 6.5 per cent reduction in serotonin transporter binding. The researchers say these decreases can lead to greater availability of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, which can have positive psychological effects.

The participants also reported an increase in self-transcendence following the 7-day retreat, which the team says correlated with reductions in dopamine binding. Subjects also reported improvements in physical health, tension, and fatigue.

Dr Andrew Newberg said, “Our study showed significant changes in dopamine and serotonin transporters after the 7-day retreat, which could help prime participants for the spiritual experiences that they reported.” Meanwhile new research suggests that diabetes damages the small blood vessels around the heart, and this might explain the link to heart attack.

The heart’s network of veins and arteries and small offshoots into capillaries can be compared to a road traffic network. If one small minor road is blocked, it has little effect on the whole network.

However, if more and more small side roads come to a halt, the traffic on the main roads and highways becomes denser and denser, and eventually the whole system seizes up and a heart attack ensues.

The researchers suggest their findings show how diabetes can have this effect.

They compared samples of heart tissue taken from patients with and without diabetes who underwent heart transplants. The samples from patients with diabetes showed that their hearts had significantly fewer small blood vessels around them.

After running tests in the laboratory, the team also found high levels of blood sugar are linked to loss of pericytes - a type of cell that forms a protective layer around small blood vessels.

The team believes this layer stabilizes the blood vessel and causes the blood vessels to break up when damaged

The researchers also studied the effect of blood vessel loss in pigs genetically engineered to develop type 1 diabetes that is like the human form. They found the same damage occurred in their hearts.

However, with the help of gene therapy, the team was able to increase production of a protein that stimulates growth of pericytes. This led to new growth of lasting and functioning small blood vessels.

It will be some time before such a treatment is available for use in humans, note the researchers, who also point out how the findings reinforce the importance of diagnosing diabetes early.

“Diabetes often remains undetected in patients for years or even decades. Over that long period, massive damage can occur.”