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Can the Transcendental Meditation Technique help people stop smoking?

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18 July 2011

Cardiologist Robert Schneider, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.B.M.R.,* and psychiatrist James Krag, M.D.,** answer questions about the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique in reducing cigarette smoking:

Q: One of the major risk factors for heart disease is cigarette smoking. What can the Transcendental Meditation technique do to help people stop smoking?

Dr. Schneider: Smoking is, indeed, a major risk factor for heart disease, for lung cancer and for many other conditions that produce mortality, disease and disability. As a matter of fact, it's considered to be the leading cause of death today by the Surgeon General of the United States.

It's actually difficult for doctors to get their patients to stop smoking. However, the Transcendental Meditation program has been shown to be quite effective in helping people to quit.

In a meta-analysis, or study, of all available research on cessation of smoking published in the Alcohol Treatment Quarterly and the Journal of Health Promotion, the Transcendental Meditation technique was shown to be twice as effective in helping people to stop smoking as the other treatments, including pharmacological therapy, individual counseling and self-help kits. This result is very significant for the 25-30% of the population who smoke today.

Q: Even if I learn the Transcendental Meditation technique, won't I still have to try hard to give up smoking?

Dr. Krag: I would not expect your TM instructors to ever give you instructions on quitting smoking. They teach Transcendental Meditation. However, by regularly practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique, I do expect that you will simply not be as interested in smoking. Just meditate regularly and see what happens. I predict you will be pleasantly surprised.

Related articles:

∙ Physicians recommend Transcendental Meditation to reduce risk factors for heart attack and stroke
∙ Research shows significant drop in blood pressure soon after learning Transcendental Meditation
∙ Medical experts explain how Transcendental Meditation reduces blood pressure
∙ Physiological changes distinguish Transcendental Meditation from other meditation practices
∙ Transcendental Meditation promotes experience of a fourth major state of consciousness

Click here for more about Transcendental Meditation and smoking, including related research showing the effects of the technique in reducing substance abuse.

* Robert Schneider, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.B.M.R., has been awarded more than $20 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his pioneering research on natural approaches to heart disease. Dr. Schneider is the author of Total Heart Health and 100 medical research articles, and he has been featured in more than 1,000 media reports, including CNN Headline News, The New York Times, and Time magazine.

**James Krag, M.D., is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, president of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia, and former president of the Virginia Association of Community Psychiatrists for four years. He is currently Medical Director of Liberty Point, a residential treatment program for adolescents with psychiatric problems.

© Copyright 2011 American Association of Physicians Practicing the Transcendental Meditation Technique

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