Clinical and Pre-clinical Applications of the Transcendental Meditation Program in the Prevention and Treatment of Essential Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease in Youth and Adults

Abstract

Acute and chronic environmental and psychosocial stress contributes to the pathogenesis and progression of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Stress reduction via Transcendental Meditation (TM)® has been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) levels and reduce CVD risk in adults and adolescents. This article reviews recent findings indicating a beneficial BP-lowering impact of TM in hypertensive adults at rest and in pre-hypertensive adolescents at rest, during acute laboratory stress and during normal daily activity. These findings have important implications for inclusion of TM in efforts to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases and its clinical consequences.

Fig. (1)

A model of the TM’s effects on hypertension and CVD as reviewed in this paper is presented. Chronic environmental and psychosocial stress, and genetic predisposition, contribute to an increase in acute stress-induced SNS arousal resulting in increased neurohormonal activity and hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis dysregulation. Such changes result in greater BP responsivity to the stress, vasoconstriction and increased BP levels. Reduction of acute and chronic stress via TM reduces CVD risk factors and impacts on the SNS resulting in reduced BP reactivity to acute stress. Over time, due to decreased cardiovascular reactivity to acute events, there is reduced load upon the heart resulting in decreased BP levels, thereby helping to prevent early onset of EH [13].