Current Perspectives on the Use of Meditation to Reduce Blood Pressure

Table 2

Literature search overview.

Meditation study overview	Sample size, population	Intervention/dose	Control	Length of baseline, no. of BP readings	Randomized, blinded	Therapists’ training	Results	F/U
Mindfulness [7]	70 (normotensive, female posttreatment cancer patients, age ≥18)	8 wk. MBSR	Passive (waitlist)	3 readings taken at 3-min. intervals	Not randomized, NR if blinded	Clinical psychologist with over 10 yrs. of experience	No significant difference in BP between MBSR group and control; when patients were analyzed by “higher BP" and “lower BP" groups based on BP readings at week 1, “higher BP" MBSR participants had lower SBP compared to controls at week 8	None
Mindfulness [8]	121 (African American ninth graders, resting SBP between 50th and 95th percentiles)	Life skills training, health education, or Breathing Awareness Meditation (BAM), with 10-min. in-school and at-home sessions every day for 3 mos.	None	4 readings taken within 10 min. (first reading discarded) over 3 consecutive days	Randomized, single-blind	Health/physical education teachers trained and certified by program instructors	Only the BAM group showed significant decreases in 24-hour SBP	3 mos.
Mindfulness [9]	166 (African American ninth graders, resting SBP between 50th and 95th percentiles)	Botvin LifeSkills Training or BAM, with 10-min. in-school and at-home sessions every day for 3 mos.	Active (health education)	3 readings taken within 10 min. (first reading discarded) over 3 consecutive days	Randomized, NR if blinded	Health education teachers trained by program instructors	BAM group showed greatest decreases in SBP, changes in overnight SBP, DBP, and heart rate (significant group differences)	None
Mindfulness [10]	56 (adults aged 30–60 yrs., 91% Caucasian, BP in the prehypertensive range, 120–139 mm Hg SBP, or 80–89 mm Hg DBP, unmedicated)	MBSR for 8 wks.	Active (PMR training)	3 readings taken at 5-min. intervals, followed by 2 additional measurements within 2 wks.	Randomized, single-blind	MBSR and PMR therapists	MBSR produced significant decreases in clinic SBP (by 4.9 mm Hg) and DBP (by 1.9 mm Hg)	None
TM [11]	35 (adolescents with high normal BP aged 15–18 yrs., 34 African Am., 1 Caucasian Am., resting SBP ≥85th and ≤95th percentile)	TM, with 15 min meditation sessions twice/day for 2 mos.	Active (health education)	3 consecutive occasions, length of baseline NR	Randomized, NR if blinded	NR	TM group showed greater decreases in resting SBP and in SBP during acute stressor	None
TM [12]	60 (African American adults, aged >20 years; with high normal BP of 130–139/80-85, stage 1 hypertension BP of 140–159/90–99, or stage II hypertension BP of 160–179/100–109)	TM for 6–9 mos. (average intervention period of 6.8±1.3 mos.)	Active (CVD risk factor prevention education program)	3 readings taken at each of 3 consecutive visits (last 2 visits were averaged)	Randomized, single-blind	Certified instructors from the African American community	Both groups had significant decreases in BP (TM group by 7.77±10.34 mm Hg SBP and 3.5±7.6 mm Hg DBP, control group by 6.74±12.8 SBP and 5.9±8.6 DBP), but only the BP decrease in TM group was associated with corresponding decrease in carotid intima-media thickness)	None
TM [13]	39 (normotensive Caucasian Am. male adults, mean age of 24.6 yrs.)	TM for 4 mos.	Active (cognitive-based stress education)	BP measured every 4 min. for 20 min.	Randomized, single-blind	Qualified TM instructor	TM decreased ambulatory DBP by 4.8±2.4 mm Hg (8.8±3.0 mm Hg in high-compliance subgroup)	None
TM [14]	298 (university students, BP <140/90 and > 90/60 mm Hg, with 159 in a hypertension risk subgroup for having SBP>130 mm Hg, DBP>85 mm Hg, or other risk factors)	TM for 3 mos.	Passive	3 readings taken at 1-min. intervals (last 2 readings were averaged)	Randomized, single-blind	Research staff and TM instructional staff	In the hypertension risk subgroup, TM significantly reduced SBP by 5.0 mm Hg and DBP by 2.8 mm Hg; reductions in overall sample were not significant. TM produced significant improvements in total psychological distress, anxiety, depression, anger/hostility, and coping.	None
TM [15]	100 (African American adolescents aged 16.2±1.3 yrs., with high normal SBP)	TM for 4 mos.	Active (health education control with lifestyle education sessions)	Readings taken from 6AM–11PM every 20 min. (daytime) and 11PM-6AM every 30 min. (nighttime) over 24 hrs.	Randomized, NR if blinded	NR	TM group showed greater declines in daytime SBP (𝑃<0.04) and DBP (𝑃<0.06) compared to the health education control group	4 mos.
TM-based [16]	41 (adults aged 22–62 yrs., with essential hypertension, unmedicated, ≥100 mm Hg arterial pressure)	SRELAX group received training over 5 wkly. sessions based on TM (including mantra), with 15–20 min meditation sessions twice/day	Both passive and active (NSRELAX placebo group had same training, no mantra)	5 readings taken at 1 min. intervals	Randomized, single-blind	Experienced TM instructor	Both SRELAX and NSRELAX modestly decreased BP, with significant decrease only in DBP	3 mos.
TM or relaxation [17]	127 (hypertensive African Am. adults aged 55–85 yrs., SBP ≤179 mm Hg, DBP 90–104 mm Hg)	Transcendental Meditation (TM) or progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), with 1 wk. initial instruction and 1.5 hr. monthly followups for 3 mos.	Active (lifestyle modification)	4 readings over 1-2 mos.	Randomized, single-blind	NR	TM significantly decreased BP in both women (SBP by 10.4 mm Hg, DBP by 5.9 mm Hg) and men (SBP by 12.7, DBP by 8.1); PMR only decreased DBP significantly in men (by 6.2)	3 mos.
TM or relaxation [18]	127 (African Am. adults aged 55–85 yrs., with mild hypertension, SBP ≤189 mm Hg, DBP 90–109 mm Hg, final baseline BP ≤179/104 mm Hg)	TM or PMR, with 1 wk. initial instruction and 1.5-hr. monthly followups for 3 mos.	Active (lifestyle modification)	3 readings taken at one visit	Randomized, single-blind	Africa Am. instructors qualified to teach either TM or PMR	TM decreased SBP by 10.7 mm Hg, DBP by 6.4 mm Hg (both significantly greater decreases than those in PMR)	3 mos.
TM or relaxation [19, 20]	150 (African Am. adults, mean age of49±10yrs., SBP 140 to 179 mm Hg, DBP 90–109 mm Hg)	TM or PMR	Active (conventional health education)	3 readings taken within 1 hr. at each of 5 sessions over 1 mo.	Randomized, single-blind	NR	TM decreased SBP by 3.1 mm Hg, DBP by 5.7 mm Hg (greatest decrease of all groups); TM decreased use of antihypertensive medication (relative to increases in other groups)	1 yr.
TM, mindfulness, or relaxation [21]	72 (elderly retirement-age adults, mean age of 81 yrs.)	TM, mindfulness training (MF), or mental relaxation	Passive	3 readings taken at 2-min. intervals (only SBP reported)	Randomized, single-blind	21 trained instructors (professionals, graduate students, and college seniors)	TM decreased SBP by 12.4 mm Hg (greatest decrease of all groups), and survival rate was 100% (compared to the second highest, 87.5% in MF) after 3 yrs.	3 yrs.