Originally Posted by mindsheep
When you compare that to Project Meditation's description of Cortisol it is very different (and the skeptic may say biased):...It seems comparable to drugs which increase certain hormones (or mimic them) but longer term have negative effects?...Does anybody know of scientific studies for or against entrainment's effect on hormone levels?
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In the statement you link to on the PM site it contains several references:
England Journal of Medicine (December 11, 1986) (Regarding the hormone DHEA)
Reiter and Robinson (1995) (From their book, Melatonin, available on Amazon.com at:
Amazon.com: Melatonin (9780553574845): Russel J. Reiter, Jo Robinson: Books)
Dr. Amnon Brzezinski M.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) 1997, whose work was cited and reviewed by the above Reitner and Robinson, but a PDF dated January 16, 1997 of one of his papers summarizing his findings is available for anyone interested in seeing exactly what he wrote in his own words just by doing a quick Google search at:
http://www.deborahburnett.com/images...ininHumans.pdf
I'm curious, since you're asking for references, if you've looked up those already provided and, if so, what did they indicate vis-a-vis' your question? Or have you performed any online searches of your own in order to reach any conclusions about the question you asked and, if so, were you successful in finding any relevant information? Perhaps others have similar questions and would benefit from the fruits of your research.
In light of your assertion,
"When you compare that to Project Meditation's description of Cortisol it is very different (and the skeptic may say biased)..." you might want to re-read the information provided on the PM link as it seems you may have misunderstood or perhaps just skimmed too quickly to have grasped what Michael's article actually says.
For example, the PM article says,
"DHEA acts as a buffer against stress-related hormones (such as cortisol), which is why as you get older and make less DHEA you become more susceptible to stress and disease." As is clear from this statement, Michael was not advocating the notion that stress hormones are all evil per se, and need to be abolished. He was very clearly and correctly setting forth the concept that the body, in its most efficient functioning state, employs various hormones (in this case DHEA) as well as other substances to arrive at a pharmacological homeostasis within the body. However, certain events, in this case, aging, decrease that natural buffer of DHEA production, leaving the body more susceptible to imbalances, in this case, to higher levels of cortisol than the body was designed to work with, resulting in increased incidence of stress-induced diseases. The article does not demonize cortisol, but points out that cortisol in unbalanced proportion creates problems. Referring to this as "biased" or out of step with any reputable research would, I think, a contention that is difficult if not impossible to support.
Similarly, the PM article discusses the role of melatonin, correctly noting that shortages of adequate melatonin are linked to quite a number of serious health conditions including heart disease, cancer, neurological disorders, just to name a few. If you keep abreast of trends in modern disease you know poor sleep, insufficient sleep, and other sleep disorders are one of the most frequently reported problems among adults and increasinglly, among young people. As the article points out, again, quite correctly, most melatonin production occurs primarily at night. Anything which disturbs proper and adequate sleep directly contributes to levels of melatonin production that are below those the body naturally needs for good health. The article is not suggesting that those with already optimized levels of melatonin are in need of ramping up melatonin production even more. It is referring to the majority of people who, because of stress, worries, anxieties, and other reasons, may not be getting proper rest and therefore do not have natural and normal levels of melatonin production. This can be aided by the practice of meditation which, in turn, is aided by the use of entrainment.
In short, if you read carefully, the entire article has to do, not with jacking up hormones and other chemicals to excessive levels, but with seeking to restore the natural balance the body is designed to have. How any of this might be considered "biased" or in any way out of step with sound principles of health is unclear to me...unless, of course, you happen to be a rep for a pharmaceutical company in which case it is understandable that any effective, natural practice would be classified as potentially dangerous, and anything written in support of it vilified.
Regarding entrainment specifically, take some time to read through the basic posts Michael has made; the golden thread section, and do a little searching and you'll quickly come to understand that entrainment does not force any condition on the body other than what the body naturally adopts all on its own. No "unnatural" brainwave states are or ever can be created through entrainment. If your DHEA production is already at its optimum level, for example, just using entrainment and/or meditation is not going to cause your body to suddenly go wild at night and overproduce even more just because it can.
Entrainment is not "forcing" the body to produce anything the way a drug does. What entrainment does is provide an environment in which brainwave patterns can arise just as they naturally arise anyway. If you listen to quiet, soothing music, for instance, you're boosting up your brain's natural level of Alpha brainwaves. No one would ever suggest that listening to relaxing music is somehow unsafe from a brainwave point of view. If you close your eyes you shut out most stimulation to the optical nerve at the back of the eye which immediately elevates your production of Alpha brainwaves. But no one would ever suggest that closing one's eyes is somehow dangerous because it fosters an increase in slower brainwaves.
Natural means of promoting slower brainwave states force nothing on the human organism. They simply offer it an atmosphere in which it can do what it was designed to do in a more efficient manner.
This is in stark contrast to your example of taking drugs, which are not natural. Any pharmaceutical is a selective, highly specific chemical, denatured of any of the other chemicals that come synergistically bound to it when that substance exists in natural, plant form. Drugs are frequently administered in ways that are not natural. For example, you can swallow a Valium and feel more relaxed, or you can inhale the fragrance of lavender and also feel relaxed. In the case of the valium you're taking in an artificial substance into the body that is not intended to be there in the first place, and you're doing it through the digestive system that was never designed to ingest and process that chemical. In contrast, by inhaling the lavender fragrance you're using a natural substance that the body has evolved to process perfectly well, and you're taking it into your body in the way the body was designed to process fragrances.
Entrainment is a phenomenon that is natural. We do it all the time. The heartbeats of mother and unborn child tend to synchronize for example, albeit at different rates, but at harmonic multiples of each other. When we walk with another person our gaits tend to end up very synchronzied. We often adopt very similar rates of breathing. The menstrual cycles of women living in the same household often fall into synch with each other. We are creatures of entrainment. Our bodies were designed to process it. Even using entrainment to affect our state of mind is not new. This is why people in my culture dance and use drums as these rhythms entrain the group into a more harmonious collection of people.
If you're still wondering specifically about studies done to ascertain whether or not entrainment's effect on normalizing hormone production is somehow detrimental, by all means you should Google around a bit to satisfy that curiousity. I think you're unlikely to find much because entrainment is not forcing anything unnatural on the body and therefore it would make little sense to a researcher to examine something that is natural for an unnatural affect, but if you run across something, please post it. I would be interested in seeing what you come up with.
