| > |
Researchers from the University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that a
widely practiced, stress-reducing meditation technique can
significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure. |
| > |
Researchers evaluated 23 African American
men and women, average age 64, who were recently hospitalized
with New York Heart Association class II or III congestive heart
failure. Participants were randomized to either the Transcendental
Meditation® (TM) technique
or health education – in addition to standard medical treatment. |
| > |
According to the study authors, TM most likely improves heart
failure by reducing sympathetic nervous system activation associated
with stress that is known to contribute to the failing heart. |
| > |
The study appears in the Winter 2007 issue
of Ethnicity & Disease. |
(PHILADELPHIA) –
In this high-tech age of modern medicine, could it be possible
to treat the leading cause of death in the U.S. through the power
of
meditation? According to a first-of-its-kind
randomized study conducted by researchers from the
University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, a widely practiced,
stress-reducing meditation technique can significantly reduce the
severity of
congestive
heart failure. The study appears in the
Winter 2007 issue of
Ethnicity & Disease.
“The
results of this study indicate that transcendental meditation can
be effective in improving the functional capacity and quality of
life of congestive heart failure patients” said Ravishankar
Jayadevappa, PhD, lead author and Research Assistant
Professor in Penn’s Division
of Geriatric Medicine. “These
results also suggest long-term improvements in survival in these
individuals.”
Jayadevappa and fellow researchers from Penn
evaluated 23 African American men and women, average age 64, who
were recently hospitalized with New York Heart Association class
II or III congestive heart failure. Participants were randomized
to either the Transcendental Meditation® (TM) technique or
health education – in addition to standard medical treatment.
Researchers
measured changes in heart function with a six-minute walk test,
and measures for quality of life, depression, and re-hospitalizations.
Changes in outcomes from baseline to three and six months after
treatment were analyzed.
According
to Jayadevappa, the TM group significantly improved on the six-minute
walk test after both three and six months of TM practice compared
to the control group. The TM group also showed improvement in quality
of life measurements, depression, and had fewer re-hospitalizations.
This
present finding is consistent with previous research demonstrating
that TM reduces factors that contribute to the cause or progression
of heart failure, such a high
blood pressure, stress, metabolic
syndrome, left
ventricular hypertrophy (enlargement of the heart)
and severity of atherosclerosis (hardening
of the arteries). Further validation of the outcomes of this study
is planned via a large, multi-center trial with long-term follow-up.
According to the study authors, TM most likely improves heart
failure by reducing sympathetic
nervous system activation associated
with stress that is known to contribute to the failing heart.
This
study was sponsored by the National
Institutes of Health-National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, in a collaboration
between the University of Pennsylvania with
the Institute for Natural Medicine
and Prevention at Maharishi
University of Management.
###
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