TM and the Metabolic Syndrome

All readers must know about the metabolic syndrome by now – its victims are overweight (large girth), have high blood pressure, high fast blood sugar, raised triglycerides and low HDL (‘good’) cholesterol. They also tend to die earlier, have more heart attacks, and diabetic complications than non-sufferers.

TM, or transcendental meditation, is a form of meditation developed in 1955 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. A body of scientific research shows it has positive effects but critics have raised questions about the integrity of the scientists who conducted the studies, and possible negative effects.

In a randomized controlled study over 100 metabolic syndrome patients with stable coronary heart disease underwent 16 weeks of transcendental meditiation or an ‘active control’ (which consisted of health education sessions). The TM group had lowered systolic pressures, lowered insulin resistance, and reduced heart rate variability, compared with the health education group. The results suggest that TM can modulate the physicial response to stress and improve cardiovascular function – a new approach to the metabolic syndrome, indeed.