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Regular practice of Transcendental Meditation leads to better cardiovascular health: WebMD reports
by Global Good News staff writer

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27 November 2012

An article published in WebMD featured a study* showing that regular practice of Transcendental Meditation by African-Americans with heart disease reduced their risk of heart attack, stroke, and death by up to 66 per cent.

WebMD is a trusted online source of medical news and reporting.

Cardiovascular health benefits of regular Transcendental Meditation practice included significantly lower systolic blood pressure, the article stated. Author Mike McMillen went on to list the particulars of the study, with reference to lead researcher Robert Schneider, MD, FACC. Dr Schneider is director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management:

'Researchers recruited 201 African-American men and women whose average age was 59 and who were generally considered obese.

'All of the participants previously had been diagnosed with heart disease. Many of them were current smokers. African-Americans, says Schneider, have a 35% higher risk of dying from heart disease than the general population.'

The findings of the nine-year study were impressive, said another cardiologist whose comments were included in the article. Overall, it found that the patients who practised Transcendental Meditation reduced their risk of heart attack, stroke, and death by 48 per cent.

But this is not the whole story.

Although one group of patients was instructed to meditate for 20 minutes, twice a day, or 14 sessions per week, 'the researchers found that on average participants only practiced the technique 8.5 times'.

Patients who meditated more regularly saw even greater health improvements.

The article stated, '[All patients] would have done well to stick to their instructions. Those who followed the study guidelines more strictly, Schneider says, had even greater benefits. Their risk reduction was 66%.'

According to Dr Schneider, the programme followed by the meditating group of patients 'was standard for TM practitioners and had not been modified for the study', meaning that anyone can begin the practice and experience the health benefits.

* The study, 'Stress Reduction in the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease', was published in November 2012 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

See related articles:
∙ NIH-sponsored study finds Transcendental Meditation dramatically reduces death in heart disease patients
∙ Substantial support for research on Transcendental Meditation and heart disease: Maharishi University of Management
∙ What is heart disease and how can we reverse it? Lead author of new meditation study explains
∙ Rigorous methods characterize new study on Transcendental Meditation and heart disease
∙ Meditation reduces heart attack by almost 50%, study published in American Heart Association journal finds
∙ Meditation can lower risk of heart attack and stroke - TIME magazine reports
∙ Regular Transcendental Meditation practice increases survival rate: New study
∙ Transcendental Meditation: A new class of medication, from the body's 'inner pharmacy'
∙ Study on Transcendental Meditation and heart disease has low 'p-value', high significance

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