The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has issued the
following news release 3/15/2007:

Transcendental Meditation Can Help

In this high-tech age of modern medicine, could it be possible to treat
the leading cause of death in the U.S. through the power of meditation?
According to a first-of-its-kind randomized study conducted by
researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Geriatric
Medicine, a widely practiced, stress-reducing meditation technique can
significantly reduce the severity of congestive heart failure. The study
appears in the Winter 2007 issue of Ethnicity & Disease.

“The results of this study indicate that transcendental meditation can
be effective in improving the functional capacity and quality of life of
congestive heart failure patients” said Ravishankar Jayadevappa, PhD,
lead author and Research Assistant Professor in Penn’s Division of
Geriatric Medicine. “These results also suggest long-term improvements
in survival in these individuals.”
Jayadevappa and fellow researchers from the Penn evaluated 23 African American men and women, average age 64, who were recently hospitalized with New York Heart Association class II or III congestive heart failure. Participants were randomized to either the Transcendental Meditation (R) (TM) technique or health education – in addition to standard medical treatment. Researchers measured changes in heart function with a six-minute walk test, and measures for quality of life, depression, and re- hospitalizations. Changes in outcomes from baseline to three and six months after treatment were analyzed. According to Jayadevappa, the TM group significantly improved on the six- minute walk test after both three and six months of TM practice compared to the control group. The TM group also showed improvement in quality of life measurements, depression, and had fewer re-hospitalizations. This present finding is consistent with previous research demonstrating that TM reduces factors that contribute to the cause or progression of heart failure, such a high blood pressure, stress, metabolic syndrome, left ventricular hypertrophy (enlargement of the heart) and severity of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Further validation of the outcomes of this study is planned via a large, multi-center trial with long-term follow-up. According to the study authors, TM most likely improves heart failure by reducing sympathetic nervous system activation associated with stress that is known to contribute to the failing heart.