Transcendental meditation may restore blood flow in CAD, reveals study

USA: Transcendental meditation (TM), alone or accompanied by standard cardiac rehabilitation increases blood flow to the heart in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. It further found that the Transcendental Meditation technique alone was able to reverse the effects of coronary heart disease assessed by PET imaging.

Psychosocial stress is a recognized risk factor for CHD. However, standard cardiac rehabilitation (CR) does not include any stress-reduction technique. Previous studies have shown transcendental meditation to be associated with a reduction in CHD risk factors and clinical factors.

While it's not known precisely how Transcendental Meditation would increase blood flow, the researchers speculate that it's a result of improved endothelial-mediated coronary and arteriolar vasomotor function. That is, reduced levels of stress hormones and possibly inflammation may result in improved function of the endothelial cells that line the coronary arteries. They cite research, which has found that modifying risk factors for cardiovascular disease improves blood flow in the heart.

This pilot study by Robert H. Schneider, Maharishi University of Management Research Institute, Maharishi Vedic City, USA, and colleagues explored the effects of standard CR with and without TM on a measure of CHD in African-American patients.

"This was the first study to show that the cardiovascular benefits of lifestyle modification such as structured exercise and dietary counselling may be enhanced by adding Transcendental Meditation in patients with heart disease," said Schneider. "It also found that the Transcendental Meditation technique alone was able to reverse the effects of coronary heart disease assessed by PET imaging."

The study involved 56 CHD patients. They were randomly divided into four groups: cardiac rehabilitation (CR), Transcendental Meditation (TM), Transcendental Meditation plus cardiac rehabilitation (CR+TM), or usual care. Testing was done at baseline and after 12 weeks.

The primary outcome was myocardial flow reserve (MFR) assessed by ¹³N-ammonia positron emission tomography (PET). Secondary outcomes were CHD risk factors. Based on guidelines for analysis of small pilot studies, data were analyzed for effect size (ES).

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Key findings of the study include:

• For 37 patients who completed post-testing, there were MFR improvements in the CR + TM group (+20.7%) and the TM group alone (+12.8%).


• By comparison, the CR-alone and usual care groups showed modest changes (+ 5.8% and − 10.3%), respectively.


• For the combined TM group, MFR increased (+ 14%) compared to the combined non-TM group (− 2.0%).

"Although this is a preliminary study, it suggests that managing one's mind-body connection with Transcendental Meditation can improve the function of the heart in cardiovascular patients," said Dr. Schneider, who is also dean of Maharishi University of Management's College of Integrative Medicine.

He said that psychosocial stress is known to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease but that stress reduction therapies aren't usually included in cardiac rehabilitation.

"More research needs to be done, but this study and previous research strongly suggest that medical professionals should consider utilizing this simple yet effective mind-body intervention in their heart health treatment and prevention programs," Dr Schneider said.

The study, "Effects of cardiac rehabilitation with and without meditation on myocardial blood flow using quantitative positron emission tomography: A pilot study," is published in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-019-01884-9