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Ashland Daily Tidings, Ashland, OregonAugust 13, 1997
 Hypertensives spell relief: T-M By Jo Garcia
Some doctors have a new prescription for high bloodpressure: meditation, specifically, transcendental meditation (TM), as analternative to medication. The prescription results from a recent upsurgeof scientific studies showing that transcendental meditation significantlylowers high blood pressure, often known as the "silent killer,"because it can strike with no symptoms, leading to heart attack, stroke,and death. The American Heart Association's journal, Hypertension,recently published two studies that reported, among other things, that theTM program produced blood pressure reductions comparable to those commonlyfound with anti-hypertensive medication, but without harmful side effects. Moreover, a recent pilot study showed a more than50 percent reduction in mortality rate from heart disease and all causesover a five-year period in participants practicing TM, reports Robert Schneider,M.D. Schneider is dean of Maharishi University of Management (M.U.M.) Collegeof Maharishi Vedic Medicine in Fairfield, Iowa. "Not every therapy that reduces high bloodpressure reduces heart attacks. In fact, several anti-hypertensive drugs,such as some widely prescribed calcium channel blockers, have been foundto increase the risk of heart attacks," said Schneider. Schneider leads a team of researchers that recentlywas awarded a $1.6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and BloodInstitute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct researchon the effects of TM in preventing heart attacks, strokes, and mortalityin high-risk African-Americans. This latest award brings the total amount of NIHfunding to more $5 million to the Maharishi University's Center for Healthand Aging Studies to support research on treating hypertension and cardiovasculardisease. "There is more research on the benefits ofthe TM program than any other medical procedure to improve health,"said John Zamarra, M.D., an Orange County, Calif., cardiologist. Zamarrahas conducted research on the effects of stress on cardiovascular functioning,and found the TM program to be highly effective in relieving pressure andstress from the heart muscle. Other research studies on the health benefits ofTM have found that the program reduces stress, cholesterol, insomnia, anxiety,and depression; slows the aging process; and cuts health care costs andhealth care utilization by 50 percent. Many such studies have been publishedin leading scientific journals, including Science and Scientific American. Introduced to the West more than 40 years ago bythe Indian Spiritual teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, TM is a meditation techniquefor reducing stress and developing full mental and physical potential. Itis practiced 15-20 minutes twice a day, sitting comfortably with eyes closed.More than five million people throughout the world have studied transcendentalmeditation. Cesar Molina, M.D., a cardiologist in Palo Alto,Calif., said, "A single hypertensive medication for one year can costas much as $l,000, and the effects will last than one year. The cost oflearning TM is much less, and the benefits will last you a lifetime." Reprinted with permission of the AshlandDaily Tidings. Scientific chart and summary of research study on the Transcendental Meditation program and hypertension (high blood pressure). Scientific chart and summary of research study on the Transcendental Meditation program and stress and anxiety. Watch a video about the Transcendental Meditation program online! |
