Transcendental Meditation Helped Heart Disease Patients Lower Cardiac Disease Risks by 50 Percent

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*Transcendental Meditation Helped Heart Disease Patients Lower Cardiac

Disease Risks by 50 Percent*

 

ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2009) — Patients with coronary heart disease who

practiced the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation® technique had

nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to

nonmeditating controls, according to the results of a first-ever study

presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in

Orlando, Fla., on Nov.16, 2009.

The nine-year, randomized control trial followed 201African American men

and women, average age 59 years, with narrowing of arteries in their hearts

who were randomly assigned to either practice the stress-reducing

Transcendental Meditation technique or to participate in a control group

which received health education classes in traditional risk factors,

including dietary modification and exercise.

 

All participants continued standard medications and other usual medical

care.

 

The study found:

 

- A 47 percent reduction in the combination of death, heart attacks, and

strokes in the participants

- Clinically significant (5 mm Hg average) reduction in blood pressure

associated with decrease in clinical events

- Significant reductions in psychological stress in the high-stress

subgroup

 

The trial was sponsored by a $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes

of Health-National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and was conducted at

The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in collaboration with the

Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of

Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

 

According to Robert Schneider, M.D., FACC, lead author and director of the

Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention, " Previous research on

Transcendental Meditation has shown reductions in blood pressure,

psychological stress, and other risk factors for heart disease, irrespective

of ethnicity. But this is the first controlled clinical trial to show that

long-term practice of this particular stress reduction program reduces the

incidence of clinical cardiovascular events, that is heart attacks, strokes

and mortality. "

 

" This study is an example of the contribution of a lifestyle intervention --

stress management -- to the prevention of cardiovascular disease in

high-risk patients, " said Theodore Kotchen, M.D., co-author of the study,

professor of medicine, and associate dean for clinical research at the

Medical College. Other investigators at the Milwaukee site included Drs.

Jane Kotchen and Clarence Grim.

 

Dr. Schneider said that the effect of Transcendental Meditation in the trial

was like adding a class of newly discovered medications for the prevention

of heart disease. " In this case, the new medications are derived from the

body's own internal pharmacy stimulated by the Transcendental Meditation

practice, " he said.

 

*Fast Facts on Coronary Heart Disease*

 

- Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the

United States

- There are nearly 1.5 million heart attacks per year in the US,

according to the American Heart Association

- An American will suffer a heart attack every 34 seconds

- Coronary heart disease is also the leading cause of health care costs.

More than $475 billion is spent annually on treating CHD, including:

- $100,000 for each coronary bypass surgery

- $50,000 for each angioplasty

- $30,000 for each diagnostic cardiac catheterization

 

There are nearly 500,000 coronary artery bypass grafts and 1.3 million

angioplasties performed every year

Stress is thought to contribute to the development of CHD

 

 

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*Story Source:*

 

Adapted from materials provided by Medical College of

Wisconsin<http://www.mcw.edu/>