Mongolian Mind-Body Interactive Therapy for Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: A Prospective Single-Arm Pilot Trial

¹ Department of Mongolian Medicine Psychosomatic Medicine, Inner Mongolia International Mongolian Medicine Hospital, Hohhot 010010, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Institute of Traditional Chinese & Mongolian Medicine, Hohhot 010010, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China,

² Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Institute of Traditional Chinese & Mongolian Medicine, Hohhot 010010, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China,

³ Department of Mongolian Medicine Psychosomatic Medicine, Inner Mongolia International Mongolian Medicine Hospital, Hohhot 010010, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China,

⁴ Inner Mongolia People’s Hospital, Hohhot 010017, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China,

IJGPN 2025 , 3(0), 489–499; https://doi.org/10.26689/ijgpn.v3iSpecial.14075

© 2025 by the Authors. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )

Abstract

Pulmonary nodules represent a prevalent pulmonary lesion with a rising clinical detection rate, and a subset may undergo malignant transformation to lung cancer. Even benign nodules frequently elicit anxiety, sleep disturbances, and other adverse outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Mongolian Mind-Body Interactive Therapy (MMBIT) on CT imaging and clinical characteristics of pulmonary nodules, and quality of life in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. A total of 36 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis admitted to the Outpatient Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Inner Mongolia International Mongolian Medicine Hospital, between July 2021 and July 2022 were enrolled. All patients received a consecutive 21-day MMBIT intervention. By comparing the data before and after treatment, the maximum diameter of pulmonary nodules decreased from 6.8 ± 2.3 mm to 5.2 ± 1.8 mm (P < 0.001), the proportion of nodules with smooth margins increased from 27.78% to 50.00% (P = 0.034), while no significant alterations were observed in nodule count or density (P > 0.05); The concentrations of respiratory system tumor markers ProGRP, NSE, and FER significantly decreased after treatment (P < 0.05), while the concentrations of SCCA, CYFRA21-1, and CEA did not change significantly. The total PSQI score reduced from 7.2 ± 2.1 to 5.8 ± 1.9 (P = 0.003), and sleep duration extended from 6.1 ± 1.2 h to 6.8 ± 1.0 h (P = 0.006). The SF-36 scale was significantly elevated compared with pre-intervention levels (P < 0.05). Emotion regulation self-efficacy was strengthened, with scores of all three dimensions in the SRESE significantly increased (P < 0.001). In conclusion, MMBIT can significantly mitigate the imaging characteristics associated with the malignant potential of pulmonary nodules, modulate relevant tumor marker levels, and improve autonomic nervous function in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, while concurrently enhancing their sleep quality, quality of life, and emotion regulation self-efficacy. Thus, it emerges as a safe and effective adjuvant therapeutic strategy for the comprehensive management of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis.

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