Expert Opinion: Meditation and Cardiovascular Health: What is the Link?

Meditation as a form of body–mind interaction for primary and secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease has been discussed critically in the past. However, data that aimed to link this intervention to a reduction of various aspects of cardiovascular disease, rendering it a potential part of a cost-effective treatment approach in patients at risk, remain scarce and inconclusive. This article aims to provide an overview of currently available evidence in the literature and the potential impact of meditation on cardiovascular health. However, the data highlighted in this article cannot render with certainty directly reproducible effects of meditation on patients’ cardiovascular disease profiles. Meditation may be suggested only as an additional link in the chain of primary and secondary prevention until future research provides sufficient data on this topic.

[1]  Hedy Kober,et al.  Mindfulness training for smoking cessation: results from a randomized controlled trial. , 2011, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[2]  Simon B. Goldberg,et al.  Randomized trial comparing mindfulness training for smokers to a matched control. , 2014, Journal of substance abuse treatment.

[3]  E. Luders,et al.  Promising Links between Meditation and Reduced (Brain) Aging: An Attempt to Bridge Some Gaps between the Alleged Fountain of Youth and the Youth of the Field , 2017, Front. Psychol..

[4]  L. Groop,et al.  Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with the metabolic syndrome. , 2001, Diabetes care.

[5]  D. Lipschitz,et al.  Reduction in salivary α-amylase levels following a mind–body intervention in cancer survivors—An exploratory study , 2013, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[6]  N. Kalin,et al.  A comparison of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an active control in modulation of neurogenic inflammation , 2013, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

[7]  R. Piferi,et al.  Evaluation of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Program to Decrease Blood Pressure in Low-Income African-American Older Adults , 2012, Journal of Urban Health.

[8]  J. Baker.  Meditation for reducing CVD risk , 2018 .

[9]  Simon B. Goldberg,et al.  Randomized Trial on Mindfulness Training for Smokers Targeted to a Disadvantaged Population , 2014, Substance use & misuse.

[10]  E. Ernst,et al.  Transcendental meditation for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. , 2014, The Cochrane database of systematic reviews.

[11]  M. Posner,et al.  Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[12]  V. Figueredo,et al.  As submitted to : International Journal of Cardiology And later published as : Meditation : Should a Cardiologist Care ? , 2018 .

[13]  M. Irwin,et al.  Mindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbances: a randomized clinical trial. , 2015, JAMA internal medicine.

[14]  R. Schneider,et al.  Usefulness of the transcendental meditation program in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease. , 1996, The American journal of cardiology.

[15]  D. Atar,et al.  JOINT ESC GUIDELINES 2016 European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice – Web Addenda , 2016 .

[16]  S. Iliceto,et al.  Thoughts modulate the expression of inflammatory genes and may improve the coronary blood flow in patients after a myocardial infarction , 2017, Journal of traditional and complementary medicine.

[17]  A. Omidi,et al.  The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on cardiac patients' blood pressure, perceived stress, and anger: a single-blind randomized controlled trial. , 2016, Journal of the American Society of Hypertension : JASH.

[18]  A. Hofman,et al.  Meditation and yoga practice are associated with smaller right amygdala volume: the Rotterdam study , 2018, Brain Imaging and Behavior.

[19]  John C. Sieverdes,et al.  Formative evaluation on cultural tailoring breathing awareness meditation smartphone apps to reduce stress and blood pressure. , 2017, mHealth.

[20]  S. Abbey,et al.  Hypertension analysis of stress reduction using mindfulness meditation and yoga: results from the HARMONY randomized controlled trial. , 2014, American journal of hypertension.

[21]  A. Hoes,et al.  [Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice]. , 2005, Revue medicale de Liege.

[22]  T. Baker,et al.  Bmc Complementary and Alternative Medicine a Pilot Study on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Smokers , 2007 .

[23]  J. Hughes,et al.  Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Prehypertension , 2013, Psychosomatic medicine.

[24]  H. Myers,et al.  Effects of stress reduction on carotid atherosclerosis in hypertensive African Americans. , 2000, Stroke.

[25]  M. G. Perrucci,et al.  Toward a brain theory of meditation. , 2019, Progress in brain research.

[26]  Prabhat Jha,et al.  21st-century hazards of smoking and benefits of cessation in the United States. , 2013, The New England journal of medicine.

[27]  A. Burhan,et al.  Effects of Sahaj Samadhi meditation on heart rate variability and depressive symptoms in patients with late-life depression. , 2018, The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science.

[28]  A. Lutz,et al.  Rapid changes in histone deacetylases and inflammatory gene expression in expert meditators , 2014, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[29]  J P Manikonda,et al.  Contemplative meditation reduces ambulatory blood pressure and stress-induced hypertension: a randomized pilot trial , 2008, Journal of Human Hypertension.

[30]  B. Whalley,et al.  Psychological interventions for coronary heart disease: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis , 2018, European journal of preventive cardiology.

[31]  Brandon G. King,et al.  Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators , 2011, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[32]  M. Tingen,et al.  Breathing awareness meditation and LifeSkills Training programs influence upon ambulatory blood pressure and sodium excretion among African American adolescents. , 2011, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[33]  Carolyn Gaylord-King,et al.  Stress Reduction in the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: Randomized, Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation and Health Education in Blacks , 2012, Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes.

[34]  Yi-Yuan Tang,et al.  Brief meditation training induces smoking reduction , 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[35]  L. Carlson,et al.  A Randomized, Wait-List Controlled Clinical Trial: The Effect of a Mindfulness Meditation-Based Stress Reduction Program on Mood and Symptoms of Stress in Cancer Outpatients , 2000, Psychosomatic medicine.

[36]  Kehu Yang,et al.  Investigating the effect of transcendental meditation on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis , 2015, Journal of Human Hypertension.

[37]  Decrease in blood pressure and improved psychological aspects through meditation training in hypertensive older adults: A randomized control study , 2015, Geriatrics & gerontology international.

[38]  J. Dwyer,et al.  Effects of a randomized controlled trial of transcendental meditation on components of the metabolic syndrome in subjects with coronary heart disease. , 2006, Archives of internal medicine.

[39]  S. Kalra,et al.  Lessons for the Health-care Practitioner from Buddhism , 2018, Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism.

[40]  G. Zieff.  Ancient roots - Modern applications: Mindfulness as a novel intervention for cardiovascular disease. , 2017, Medical hypotheses.

[41]  J. Roos‐Hesselink,et al.  Mind–body practices for patients with cardiac disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis , 2015, European journal of preventive cardiology.

[42]  G. Fricchione,et al.  Relaxation Response Induces Temporal Transcriptome Changes in Energy Metabolism, Insulin Secretion and Inflammatory Pathways , 2013, PloS one.

[43]  J. Hagelin,et al.  A randomized controlled trial on effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on blood pressure, psychological distress, and coping in young adults. , 2009, American journal of hypertension.

[44]  Matthew D. Lieberman,et al.  Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training reduces loneliness and pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults: A small randomized controlled trial , 2012, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

[45]  J. Kaski,et al.  Effects of transcendental meditation on symptoms and electrocardiographic changes in patients with cardiac syndrome X. , 2000, The American journal of cardiology.

[46]  Albert Feliu‐Soler,et al.  Benefits of mindfulness meditation in reducing blood pressure and stress in patients with arterial hypertension , 2018, Journal of Human Hypertension.

[47]  Keith C. Norris,et al.  Meditation and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction , 2017, Journal of the American Heart Association.

[48]  Matthew L. Dixon,et al.  Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: A review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations , 2016, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[49]  E. Luders,et al.  The neuroanatomy of long-term meditators. , 2019, Current opinion in psychology.

[50]  Ben Vandermeer,et al.  Meditation practices for health: state of the research. , 2007, Evidence report/technology assessment.

[51]  K. Gould,et al.  Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? The Lifestyle Heart Trial , 1990, The Lancet.

[52]  Janet Buckworth,et al.  Effects of Low-Dose Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR-ld) on Working Adults , 2009, Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.

[53]  E. Bass,et al.  Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. , 2014, JAMA internal medicine.

[54]  D. Shannahoff-Khalsa,et al.  Clinical trials of meditation practices in health care: characteristics and quality. , 2008, Journal of alternative and complementary medicine.

[55]  Shah Ebrahim,et al.  [European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice (version 2012)]. , 2013, Turk Kardiyoloji Dernegi arsivi : Turk Kardiyoloji Derneginin yayin organidir.

[56]  L. Negi,et al.  Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress , 2009, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[57]  E. Schadt,et al.  Meditation and vacation effects have an impact on disease-associated molecular phenotypes , 2016, Translational Psychiatry.