Chennai cardiologists are nudging their patients to good heart health the yogic way.
With 9-year American study revealing that 20 minutes of meditation performed twice daily can lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients with cardiovascular disease, doctors here offer complementary meditation and yoga packages, along with routine heart and BP drugs.
The study, authored by College of Maharishi Consciousness Based Health Care dean Robert Schneider, investigated for nine years subjects diagnosed with early stage cardiovascular disease.
Half the group was taught ‘transcendal meditation’ that involves repeating a word or phrase over and over again (usually ‘Om’), while performing soothing breathing exercises.
At the end of the study period, those who regularly meditated had reduced their chances of dying or having a heart attack or stroke by 47 per cent compared with those who received traditional care.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Health, is expected to be printed soon in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Cardiologists in the city, however, did not need to wait until they had solid evidence backing transcendal medication as a powerful panacea for preventing heart attacks.
“We routinely recommend that patients with heart disease and high blood pressure perform meditation, and we see good results in those who follow our advice with enthusiasm,” says G. Sengottuvelu, senior consultant and interventional cardiologist at Apollo Hospitals.
As part of a master health check-up, those diagnosed with hypertension and heart problems are referred to the hospital’s wellness therapy centre that employs yoga and naturopathy to complement the physician’s allopathic treatment.
“Meditation plays a major role in tackling people with high anxiety. There are many studies that show that transcendal meditation acts on several areas of the brain to bring down the levels of harmful hormones and also put an end to abnormal heartbeats,” Sengottuvelu explains.
Mani Shankar, a 45-year-old patient who suffered from narrowing of the arteries in his heart, says he feels like a changed person after his physician suggested meditation.
“I am now able to meditate anywhere, even during lunch hour at office. I simply need to close my eyes and zone out, and it keeps me stress-free the whole day. My doctor earlier said I may need bypass surgery, but now he is not so sure,” says an elated Mani Shankar.
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