title: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Effects on Psychoimmunological Factors of Chemically Pulmonary Injured Veterans.
abstract: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) as a new therapeutic technique in energy psychology has positive effects on psychological and physiological symptoms, and quality of life. In this research we studied the effect of this treatment on immunological factors. This study tested whether 8-week group sessions of EFT (compared to a wait-list control group) with emphasis on patient's respiratory, psychological and immunological problems in chemically pulmonary injured veterans (N=28) can affect on immunological and psychological factors. Mixed effect linear models indicated that EFT improved mental health (F=79.24, p=0) and health-related quality of life (F=13.89, p=0.001), decreased somatic symptoms (F=5.81, p=0.02), anxiety/insomnia (F=24.03, p<0.001), social dysfunction (F=21.59, p<0.001), frequency and severity of respiratory symptoms (F=20.38, p<0.001), and increased lymphocyte proliferation with nonspecific mitogens Concanavalin A (Con A) (F=14.32, p=0.001) and Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) (F=12.35, p=0.002), and peripheral blood IL-17 (F=9.11, p=0.006). This study provides an initial indication that EFT may be a new therapeutic approach for improving psychological and immunological factors.
authors.affiliation: Health Management Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. srm@dr.com.
authors.forename: Abdolreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Babamahmoodi
authors.affiliation: Alliant International University, California School of Professional Psychology, California, USA. zarefnasab@alliant.edu.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Arefnasab
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. noorbala1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ahmad Ali
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Noorbala
authors.affiliation: Chemical Injuries Research Center Baqiyatallah university of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran. mghanei@hbi.ir.
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghanei
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases, Anti-Microbial Drug Resistance Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. fbabamahmoudi@mazums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Farhang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Babamahmoodie
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran. fbabamahmoudi@mazums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. fbabamahmoudi@mazums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mohammad Hossein
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Alimohammadian
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. fbabamahmoudi@mazums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Riazi Rad
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. fbabamahmoudi@mazums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Khaze
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. fbabamahmoudi@mazums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Haideh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Darabi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000276:immunology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D014728:Veterans