Can being happy help me fight infection?
CrowdScience
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The Importance of Mindfulness Meditation in the Treatment of HIV
There are seven and a half million people in South Africa that are HIV positive. The human immunodeficiency virus as the name suggests attacks your immune system leaving you vulnerable to other diseases. Clinical psychologist Tracey McIntyre is interested in one in particular. She designed a study to test whether mindfulness meditation might reduce stress and increase participants white blood cell counts which is important for slowing progression of HIV. Nina was infected in 1995 when she was 16 or 17 years old by her boyfriend who later killed himself. Her words have been voiced by an actor.
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