Meditation Lowers Heart Attack Risk

In that atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United  States among African Americans, Robert Schneider, from the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, studied 201 African American subjects (46% female, mean age 58) with documented coronary artery disease. Participants were engaged in either a program of Transcendental Meditation or health education (control option). After 5 years of follow-up, the researchers found that those subjects who practiced Transcendental Meditation slashed the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and resulting premature deaths by 47%.  The Transcendental Meditation subjects also had lower blood pressures and significant reductions in psychological stress levels.  Conclude the researchers: “Stress reduction with the Transcendental Meditation program was associated with 43% reduction in risk for all cause mortality, myocardial infarction and stroke in a high-risk sample of African Americans. A selected stress reduction approach may be useful in the secondary prevention of atherosclerotic CVD.”