Recent Research on Transcendental Meditation

TM improves gene expression leading to greater health and longevity

The many documented benefits of TM for improving health and reducing biological ageing may be explained on the level of DNA. TM appears to improve the way the DNA expresses itself such that it promotes better health and longevity.

Here is one such finding that could be eplained by changes in gene expression. A study published last September ⁽¹⁾ found that six months of TM prevented the hearts of 50-year old hypertension patients from becoming pathologically enlarged, over a 6-month period. The hearts of the control group, who received health education, did show significant left ventricle hypertrophy over the same period.

Another study⁽²⁾ used the most advanced imaging technology  (PET) for assessing blood flow in heart muscle, which is critical for heart health, especially under exercise. TM by itself was shown to be more effective than conventional exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. It also greatly enhanced the efficacy of conventional treatment.

This recent state-of-the-art research, is likely to be mediated by the significant changes in gene expression in  older long-term TM practitioners, in 2014. The expression of genes associated with stress, inflammation and cardiovascular disease was found to be decreased compared to a carefully matched control group. Expression for two tumour suppressor genes was increased in the TM group, which may indicate strengthened cellular defences against cancer. Increased telomerase, also found in the meditators, helps protect the DNA from damage caused by stress.

Such epigenetic effects are likely to account for previous findings also, such as increases in white blood cells associated with immunity, and significantly improved vitality in HIV patients, relative to controls.

References

(1) Schneider, RH, Myers, HF, Marwaha, K, Rainforth, et al. Stress Reduction in the Prevention of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation and Health Education in Hypertensive African Americans. Ethnicity & Disease, 2019:29(4),577 - 586.

(2) Bokhari S, Schneider R, Salerno J, et al. Effects of cardiac rehabilitation with and without meditation on myocardial blood flow using quantitative positron emission tomography: A pilot study. Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. 2019(Sept 16):1-12 (online).