The lowdown on BP and TM
When patients come to me and learn that they have high blood pressure, here's a sample of how the conversation goes:
"Jerry, your blood pressure is higher than I like to see."
"I was afraid of that, Doc. But please—I don't want to have to take any medications for it!"
"That's fine, Jerry, because I recommend a stepped approach. We'll take a look at your diet, and I'll also prescribe some meditation for you."
A look of alarm crosses Jerry's face. His eyebrows lift as he considers which of his questions to ask first—one of which may be simply, "Meditation?"
Patients like Jerry are sometimes a little skittish when it comes to any suggestion of meditation as part of their treatment plan. It reminds them of the days of flower children and free love.
While I won't speak to 60's culture, I can say that we shouldn't ignore the science behind the meditation tradition. And one form in particular is standing out: Transcendental Meditation, or TM for short.
In recent years, there have been multiple high-quality studies conducted to see what, if any, benefit meditation can bring to a patient's life. A new meta-analysis was just completed, reviewing over 100 studies that had been conducted on the link between high blood pressure and stress reduction programs.
Sometimes it's all in the technique. For participants who engaged in TM in particular, their reduction of high blood pressure was considered statistically significant. Average reductions of 5.0 points on systolic blood pressure and 2.8 on diastolic blood pressure were the amazing results.
According to the analysis, the TM technique even beat other stress reduction strategies in terms of significant changes in blood pressure. In fact, researchers found that the changes linked to the TM technique were on a par with those you'd expect from changes to your diet and by initiating an exercise program.
The good news is if you have mild or borderline high blood pressure, TM can help you avoid those blood pressure medications along with their side effects. And if you suffer from severe high blood pressure, incorporating TM may enable you to cut back a bit on your meds—under the supervision of your doctor, of course.
The beauty of this approach is that meditation's "side effects" are all positive, and they support good overall health. Lowered anxiety, better sleep, clearer thinking and improved energy are just a few examples. It's a great form of rest, once you get the hang of it. You can do it anywhere, even in a noisy train station or airport. Believe it or not, you actually learn to go into a relaxed state that's more restful than sleep as you tune out the noise around you.
For more information on Transcendental Meditation, go to www.tm.org. They offer locations of where to learn, listed by state. There's a fee involved in the training, but if you add up all of those medications and the overall cost of heart disease, I'd consider this training an investment in good health.
