Meditation, specifically transcendental meditation (TM), has reportedly been shown to reduce heart attack-related deaths by up to 50 percent, a new study claims.
Researchers tracked 201 people as they underwent either Transcendental Meditation or health education classes as part of a stress-reduction approach, the New Zealand Herald reports.
They found that those who meditated had lower blood pressure and a 47% reduction in strokes, deaths and heart attacks, which they calculated together as one result.
Between 1998 and 2007, study participants either engaged in meditation techniques for 20 minutes twice per day.
Alternatively, they spent the same amount of time practicing other heart-healthy lifestyle behaviors that they were taught in a cardiovascular health education program.
The results found that TM appears to reduce the risk of death, heart attack and stroke, while also lowering blood pressure and stress levels.
TM in those subjects was found to be far more effective than the actions of the control group, which practiced heart-healthy behavior.
According to the researchers, African Americans have higher rates of Coronary Heart Disease-related illness and death, and that psychosocial stress might be a contributing factor.
