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Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and your overall health. But could meditating reduce loneliness?

Loneliness has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, depression and even premature death.

Researchers at UCLA claim that a simple meditation program lasting just eight weeks reduced loneliness in older adults and significantly reduced expression of inflammatory genes.

The findings are published in the current online edition of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity. 

Researchers claim that the two-month program of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which teaches the mind to simply be attentive to the present and not dwell in the past or project into the future, successfully reduced the feelings of loneliness.

Researchers randomly assigned 40 adults between the ages of 55 and 85 to a mindfulness meditation group or a control group that did not meditate. All the participants were assessed at the beginning and the end of the study using an established loneliness scale. Blood samples were also collected at the beginning and end to measure gene expression and levels of inflammation.

The meditators attended weekly two-hour meetings in which they learned the techniques of mindfulness, including awareness and breathing techniques. They also practiced mindfulness meditation for 30 minutes each day at home and attended a single daylong retreat.

These MBSR participants self-reported a reduced sense of loneliness, while their blood tests showed a significant decrease in the expression of inflammation-related genes.

The researchers said their work presents the first evidence showing that a psychological intervention that decreases loneliness also reduces pro-inflammatory gene expression. 

Inflammation is a natural component of the immune system and can help fight a wide variety of bodily insults, ranging from infections to a whack by a hammer. But chronic inflammation is now known to be a primary player in the pathology of many diseases and psychological disorders.

Calling the sample small, researchers said the results were, however, encouraging because it adds to a growing body of research that is showing the positive benefits of a variety of meditative techniques, including tai chi and yoga.

In July, a study was published that showed that a form of yogic meditation involving chanting also reduced inflammatory gene expression, as well as stress levels, among individuals who care for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

"These studies begin to move us beyond simply connecting the mind and genome, and identify simple practices that an individual can harness to improve human health," researchers said. "If this is borne out by further research, MBSR could be a valuable tool to improve the quality of life for many elderly."