By Sue Pleming
Washington - Transcendental Meditation may help to reduce the thickening of coronary arteries and lessen the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to new research released on Friday.
Researchers said that meditating for about 20 minutes twice a day was an effective tool for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and could be used in addition to traditional therapies for heart disease.
"TM appears to restore the body's own self-repair mechanisms, the body's own homeostatic balancing and this has effects on neuro hormones and part of the nervous system which helps to slow heart disease," said one of the authors of the study and the director of Maharishi University of Management (MUM) Centre for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Robert Schneider, in a telephone interview.
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Writing in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke, the researchers said their study was the first to suggest that meditating could help a person to reduce atherosclerosis without any change in diet or exercise.
Atherosclerosis is the hardening of the arteries, accompanied by a build-up of fat deposits in the artery walls. This condition can lead to heart disease, the number one cause of death in America.
"TM is a useful adjunct to the usual medical care. It has benefits for re-balancing the cardiovascular system and the body more generally," said Schneider, adding it could have vast implications for management of heart disease and health costs.
In TM, Schneider said the person used a specific sound or "mental vehicle", which enabled the person to experience quieter states of thinking.
"This technique does not require effort, or concentration or emptying the mind of thoughts. It's a natural, effortless process where you reach a state of restful alertness," he said.
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