Meditation Found To Decrease Risk of Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. A new study has found that mediation may help lower the risk of cardiovascular risk factors including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease. 

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine used data from the 2012 and 2017 National Health Interview Survey for their study. More than 61,000 people participated in the study. Approximately 10% of them practiced some form of meditation. The researchers identified all participants with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Participants who practiced meditation were found to have a 35% lower risk of high cholesterol, a 14% lower risk of high blood pressure, and a 49% lower risk of coronary artery disease. They were also found to have a 30% lower risk of diabetes and a 24% lower risk of stroke.

The study was published online ahead of print on June 29, 2020 in The American Journal of Cardiology.