Press release

New international research shows that Transcendental Meditation reduces


November 2009. No less than four new research studies have been announced this month on the proven ability of Transcendental Meditation to prevent cardiovascular disease.

One study shows reduced high blood pressure in at-risk college students, together with reduced anxiety and improved coping ability. A second study found 50% reduced heart attacks, strokes and cardiac deaths, among people practising Transcendental Meditation as compared with the control group. A third study, which has just received $1m US government funding, will examine the potential of TM to prevent further heart problems among people who have already had a heart attack or heart surgery. A fourth study found reduced symptoms of diabetes.
A short synopsis of each of these studies, with further links to fuller reports, is given below.


Most of these studies have received funding from the US National Institutes of Health, a department of the US Government, which over the past 25 years has given more than $25m in grants for research on TM and cardiovascular disease among African Americans. Earlier trials on Transcendental Meditation found reductions in risk factors for heart disease, such as hypertension, psychological stress, insulin resistance, and build-up of atherosclerosis in the arteries, with indications of reduced mortality from heart disease. For a list of these studies, click here.


According to Dr Busi Nyembezi, a medical doctor and writer in KwaZulu-Natal, these findings from the USA have clear relevance for South Africa, where cardiovascular disease claims more deaths than any other disease apart from HIV-AIDS; where high blood pressure, the main risk factor for heart disease, affects an estimated 25% of South Africans over the age of 15; and where there is concern over an emerging epidemic of heart disease in the urban black population. Dr Nyembezi believes TM would be beneficial in the prevention and management of heart disease in South Africa and could be introduced in Workplace Health Programmes and in schools and colleges as part of chronic disease prevention.


Transcendental Meditation, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is a simple, natural, non-religious mental technique of deep rest and relaxation. It is taught in South Africa by qualified instructors registered with Maharishi Vedic Institute, non-profit organisation 025-663-NPO. The wide-ranging benefits of Transcendental Meditation – for mind, body, behaviour and environment – have been documented by over 600 independent scientific research studies published in over 100 peer-reviewed scientific, medical and professional journals.

For information about Transcendental Meditation in South Africa, visit www.tm-online.org.za
For a general international website about Transcendental Meditation, visit www.tm.org, which includes a page listing the research on TM funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

For more information, interviews etc., contact Nigel Kahn, Director of Communication, 021 685 1647;
communication@tm-online.org.za

Details of the four new studies

1. In a new study to be published in the American Journal of Hypertension, December 2009, Transcendental Meditation reduced blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and anger among at-risk college students at American University in Washington DC. Students practising Transcendental Meditation showed reductions of 6.3 mm Hg in systolic and 4.0 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure compared to the control group. These reductions are associated with a 52% lower risk for development of hypertension in later years. Full story

2. In a study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in November, patients with coronary heart disease who practised Transcendental Meditation had nearly 50% lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and mortality, compared to non-meditating controls who instead received health education classes. This trial, sponsored by a $3.8 million grant from the US National Institutes of Health, was a 9-year randomized control trial involving 201 African American men and women with narrowing of arteries in their hearts. Full story...

3. The same week, US National Institutes of Health announced it would fund a further $1 million study to determine whether the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation can help patients with established coronary heart disease prevent future heart attacks, strokes and death. Competition for the funding was fierce with more than 20,000 applications for the Challenge Grants category and only 840 awarded. Full story.....

4. In a randomized study presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, African American women greatly improved their condition of dyslipidaemia, the most common complication of diabetes, characterized by low HDL (good) cholesterol and high triglyceride levels, which increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. After one year the TM showed a 29% greater increase in HDL cholesterol and a 20% greater drop in triglycerides than subjects in the control group who followed a diet and exercise programme. Full story ......

For a summary of health research on TM click here. For a summary of all research on TM click here.