Health Benefits of Meditation

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Meditation is one of the top-10 alternative therapies used by the U. S. population. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that 8% of Americans use meditation as a health tool. No longer just for Buddhist monks and New-Age types, meditation is now appealing to mainstream business professionals, medical doctors and even healthcare companies. This is a result of the growing evidence which supports that meditation can promote physical healing.

Meditation may be spiritual for some, but the practice is not necessarily religious in nature. There are many meditative approaches but regardless of the technique, medical research indicates that the practice of meditation tends to evoke a state of physiological relaxation: blood pressure drops, heart beats slower and breathing is quieter. Biochemical changes can occur. Scientists do not understand why the changes happen but understanding the physical effects can explain the potential health benefits of meditation.

Twenty minutes of daily meditation can provide relief for ailments such as low back pain, headaches, depression and anxiety. Suffers of these chronic conditions should attempt to incorporate the meditation practice into their daily routine. If meditation can lower blood pressure, it could be a useful tool in helping patients with hypertension. If scientists uncover exactly how meditation works to relieve these symptoms, they may be able to apply that understanding to treat a host of other disorders.

Research on meditation began back in the late 1960s. Herbert Benson, MD, began studying the physiological impact of Transcendental Meditation on individuals. In recent years, the scope of studies has focused on how the practice can reduce symptoms of chronic illnesses from cardiovascular disease to cancer. Critics indicate some of the research is been on small study populations and has not had adequate control groups for comparison. But some studies have shown promising results.

Meditation can be very useful after surgery. The University of Minnesota researchers looked in meditations effect on organ-transplant recipients. While medical advances have increased the survival rate of these patients, many still face lifelong chronic conditions even if the transplanted organs function well. The university’s study published in the 2004 issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, found that 19 organ-transplant recipients who completed a meditation retreat reported a reduction in feelings of depression, anxiety, and problems with sleeplessness. As a result of this pilot study, an additional grant was awarded to do a larger, five-year follow-up study which is currently under way.

Robert Schneider, MD, director of the federally funded Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention at the Maharshi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, has done many studies on the effect of meditation on cardiovascular disease particularly among African Americans. His studies have found that 20 minute of meditation twice a day can have a dramatic effect on a patient’s health:
• Patients with high blood pressure who practiced meditation saw a decrease in the thickness of arterial walls in the neck, a problem which can lead to stroke. This study was published in the journal Stroke in March 2000
• Hypertensive patients, in a study published in the American Journal of Hypertension in January 2005, found that meditation lowered their blood pressure more than conventional techniques
• A study in the American Journal of Hypertension in May 2005 indicated that hypertensive patients who practiced meditation tended to boost their longevity.
• Studies found that patients who used meditation were able to reduce their use of anti-hypertensive drugs.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers studied the effects of meditation on the brain. They worked with the Dalai Lama. They scanned the brains of eight of lama’s followers to see what physiological effects their years of meditation might have on their brains. They measure gamma waves to compare the brain activity. The study done was published in November 2004, in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences. The study found striking differences between the long term and novice meditators, suggesting overtime that mental training acquired through meditation sculpts the brain just as physical training sculpts the body. The monk’s brains showed dramatically increased activity in areas associated with positive emotions.

Similar studies are being done now is Massachusetts, using MRI technology to scan the brains of meditators for areas of increased activity and blood flow. This research may lead to better treatment of many conditions. For now, the scientific understanding of meditation remains uncertain.

Meditation can relax the body. Promote more restful sleep and boost the body’s immune system. This will help fight illness and better manage the symptoms of chronic conditions. Meditation can relax the mind and help us better deal with the stress of our daily lives. The popular interest in meditation and its health benefits may help drive more research in the future.

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