The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the Institutes of Health, will fund a one million dollar joint study by the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management Research Institute and Columbia University Medical Center to determine whether the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) can help patients with coronary heart disease avoid future heart attacks and strokes.
The "Randomized Controlled Trial of Stress Reduction in the Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease in African Americans," will be a 12-week study conducted at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. The trial will examine 56 patients who have had a heart attack or bypass surgery, angioplasty, or chronic angina.
"For decades, stress has been implicated in the cause and progression of heart disease," said Robert Schneider, M.D., F.A.C.C., lead author and director of the NIH-funded Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention. "And while standard cardiac rehabilitation usually includes supervised exercise and lifestyle education, it does not usually include a formal stress reduction program. Now, for the first time, this study will evaluate whether adding stress reduction through the Transcendental Meditation technique to conventional cardiac rehabilitation will aid in the treatment of serious CHD compared to conventional cardiac rehabilitation alone."
Patients will be carefully evaluated, using PET scans, before and after the study for changes in their coronary artery disease. "PET is an innovative imaging technology that allows us to visually and non-invasively study blood flow to the heart. With this state-of-the-art technology, doctors can now measure the blood flow to the heart and thus quantify the full impact of stress reduction on CHD," said Sabahat Bokhari, MD, Director of Nuclear Cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center and study co-director,
The NIH funding allocation is part of the Obama Administration's economic stimulus bill. Competition for the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds was intense with over 20,000 applications for the Challenge Grants category and only 840 awarded. "This is worthwhile research since we know that strong emotional stress can lead to conditions such asarrhythmia and hypertension," said NHLBI Director Elizabeth Nabel, M.D.
Results from several earlier trials on the Transcendental Meditation program found reductions in risk factors for heart disease, such as hypertension, psychological stress, insulin resistance, and build-up of atherosclerosis in the arteries, with indications of reduced mortality from heart disease. This newly funded study will directly evaluate coronary artery disease and continue to examine the potential of meditation for improvements in cardiovascular health.
Source: Ken Chawkin
Maharishi University of Management
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