April 16, 2002 -- Meditation is known to be good for the soul,
April 16, 2002 -- Meditation is known to be good for the soul, but the evidence is mounting that it is good for the body as well. New research suggests that the elderly can dramatically lower their risk of heart attack and stroke by following a holistic program anchored by the practice of transcendental meditation.
A group of elderly people who adopted the lifestyle changes, based on the Maharishi Vedic Medicine (MVM) program, had a significant reversal of atherosclerosis after one year. More commonly known as hardening of the arteries, atherosclerosis involves the buildup of fat deposits in the artery walls and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
MVM is described as a comprehensive, prevention-oriented system of natural medicine, derived from the traditional Vedic knowledge of India. Program components include a high-fiber, low-fat diet; herbal antioxidant supplements; yoga and aerobic exercise; and meditation for at least 20 minutes, twice each day.
Two years ago, researchers with the College of Maharishi Vedic Medicine in Fairfield, Iowa, reported that transcendental meditation alone reduced atherosclerosis in a group of African Americans with hypertension.
In this pilot study, 46 elderly people (median age 74) were asked to follow either the comprehensive MVM program, a conventional diet and exercise program for reducing heart disease risk, or make no changes in their lifestyles. Researchers measured plaque buildup in the carotid artery using ultrasound at the beginning of the study and again a year later. The carotid artery is located in the neck and is a good indicator of atherosclerosis in other parts of the body, including the heart.
They found that patients on the MVM program had an 11% reduction in atherosclerosis, while patients at high risk of heart disease had a 19% reduction. Reductions in atherosclerosis were seen in 16 of 20 people on the MVM program, five of nine people on the conventional intervention program, and seven of 14 people who had no intervention.
Lead author Jeremy Z. Fields, PhD, notes that compliance was high among participants in the transcendental meditation group. Roughly 90% of the subjects were still meditating at the end of the study, and 72% of patients were still adhering to all components of the program. Only about half of the subjects in the conventional intervention arm were still following the diet and exercise recommendations after a year. Fields is research coordinator for the Center for Healthy Aging at Chicago's Saint Joseph Hospital.
"Compliance had a lot to do with the success of this program," Fields tells WebMD. "People enjoyed this and they wanted to do it. They actually became more compliant with the meditation component as time went on. It was fun for them."
Robert H. Schneider, MD, who was involved in this study and the African American atherosclerosis study two years ago, says the new research shows that a synergistic approach is key to preventing heart attack and stroke.
"It looks like it is possible to prevent or even reverse atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease without drugs," he tells WebMD. "This method showed greater effectiveness than published studies of drug therapy. There are millions of people taking blood cholesterol-lowering drugs who could benefit from this. They are giving them out like candy."
Brooklyn cardiologist Richard Stein, MD, agrees that a holistic lifestyle approach based on diet, exercise, and stress reduction can have a dramatic impact on disease risk. But he says there is no compelling evidence that the transcendental meditation-based program is any more effective than other lifestyle modification programs, or that compliance is better.
"We don't really know how motivated these people were, and motivation is the key," he tells WebMD. "The fact is, just about anything works in a very highly motivated group of patients. But many patients who are asked to make the lifestyle changes that this program and others ask them to make will tell their doctor to just give them a pill."
