Limitations of transcendental meditation in the treatment of essential hypertension.
20 hypertensive patients participating in a professionally supervised programme of transcendental meditation showed no significant change in blood-pressure after a 6-month study. Although there were small reductions in systolic blood-pressure and in pulse-rate early in the trial, these changes had disappeared by 6 months. At no time did the mean diastolic pressure fall significantly. Plasma-renin activity did not change during the study. It is concluded that while the general feeling of wellbeing experienced by most patients may provide a useful adjunct to conventional treatments, it is unlikely that transcendental meditation contributes directly towards the lowering of blood-pressure.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011674:Pulse; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood; D013997:Time Factors
D012083:Renin