Hello, I’m Kimberly Walleston and welcome to InsidersHealthTV, where we bring you the freshest happenings in the world of medicine without that quack propaganda. Boy, do we have a story for you. Today we’ll be talking about how mindful meditation might ease irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other chronic bowel diseases. Then, we’ll toss it out to the golden coast to check in on our Hollywood Healthbeat with correspondent Danika Quinn. A new study done by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found that a simple meditation technique can help ease the torment of chronic bowel disease. The research found that women who practice mindful meditation had more than a 38% reduction of symptoms, blowing the traditional support techniques out of the water. Some might say that it’s flushing the competition down the toilet. Okay. The most popular of the traditional techniques only offers a 12% reduction for women. IBS and any other chronic bowel disease are very hard to treat, even with the best standard medical approaches. Mindful meditation helps those suffering to relax by focusing on the moment, paying attention to breathing and withholding judgment from themselves. It’s using the mind and being more aware. And while it takes discipline to learn, it will become second nature after a while. Researchers stress that it isn’t a clinical treatment, but more of an educational lesson. In the US, IBS is more common in women and about 1 in 6 people suffer from it, according to the National Institute of Health. The condition is thought to stem from a genetic disposition and is triggered by stress, a gastro-intestinal infection, or surgery. Effective treatments have been difficult to find and because it varies so much from one person to another, there is no “one size fits all” regimen. That’s why this drastic improvement was looked at with such importance. So if you are suffering from a chronic bowel disease and nothing is working for you, or you’re simply interesting in trying something that might work even better, maybe mindful meditation makes the most sense. Now let’s check in on our Hollywood Healthbeat, where Danika Quinn brings us the hottest health happenings in Tinsel Town. Danika I’m Danika Quinn and this is Hollywood Healthbeat, your lifeline to the hottest health happenings in Tinsel Town. Celebs are notorious for having the hottest new gear, the coolest phone, the chic-est handbag, but how about the latest medical technology? Well, that’s exactly what Parenthood star, Erica Christianson was flaunting recently while out and about in L.A. The star suffered a broken arm after a bike accident, but she’s already on the fast track to recovery thanks to a new cast that uses ultrasonic waves to speed up the healing process. This really cool medical accessory stimulates bone growth by admitting low intensity pulses of sonic pressure over the fracture site. Researchers have been studying the electrical properties of bone healing for decades and they are still unsure how or why the mechanism works. But they suspect that the ultrasonic pulses might encourage the body’s natural production of cartilage. Not only is this important to a quick heal, but it could also make for a more efficient one. The technology aims to cut back on the 5 to 10% of annual fractures that show delayed or impaired healing. We’re willing to bet Ms. Christianson won’t be in the demographic, but she is in a small percentage of people that can make even a cast look good! Guys, who knew that plaster is the new black? Well that’s it for the next Hollywood Healthbeat. Until next time I’ve got my finger to the pulse of Hollywood.