Can Transcendental Meditation Prolong Life?
The Studies
The first study, presented at the November 16, 2009 annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, investigated the effects of TM in patients with heart disease. Researchers at the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa in collaboration with the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee randomly assigned 201 African American patients with narrowed heart arteries either to a group receiving TM and standard medications or a control group receiving health education classes and standard medications.
The second study, published in the American Journal of Cardiology, investigated the effects of TM on death rates in patients with high blood pressure. Researchers at the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, reviewed the data of 202 patients (aged 66 and older) with high blood pressure, participating in published studies that included TM, other behavioral stress-decreasing programs and standard medications, over an 18 year period.
The Results
In the first study, researchers found that the TM group had a 47 percent lower death rate and heart attack risk, compared to the control group.
In the second study, researchers found that the TM group had a 23 percent lower overall death rate, a 30 percent lower death rate from heart disease and 49 percent lower death rate from cancer, compared to the other groups.
The Main Point
The findings of both studies suggest that practicing TM may help prolong life, especially in people with heart disease and high blood pressure.
The results of the first study also suggests that practicing TM may be as effective as drugs in treating heart disease. "In this case, the new medications are derived from the body's own internal pharmacy stimulated by the Transcendental Meditation practice," says Dr. Robert Schneider, study author and director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, in a news release.
Sources
Transcendental Meditation helped heart disease patients lower cardiac disese risks by 50 percent. November 16, 2009 . eurekalert.org
Schneider RH et al. Long-term effects of stress reduction on mortality in persons > or = 55 years of age with systemic hypertension. Am J Cardiol 2005;95(9):1060-4. PubMed.gov
Gavalas, Elaine. The Yoga Minibook for Stress Relief. Simon & Schuster, 2005, p. 65 . elainegavalas.com.
Published by Elaine Gavalas
Elaine's featured on the Today Show, Martha Stewart Living Today and other media. She's an exercise physiologist, nutritionist, yoga therapist and author of Yogi in the Kitchen, Yoga Minibook Series and Secr... View profile
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