Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

consciousness-based education and governmentyears these reductions in blood pressure would prevent an average of40% of strokes and 20% of heart attacks that normally occur withoutadequate blood pressure treatment.A second major advantage of treatment with Transcendental Meditationwas the lack of adverse side effects that are commonly experiencedwith conventional drug therapy. Instead of negative side effects,the Transcendental Meditation group reported several improvementsin subjective health and quality of life measures.A third advantage is compliance with the program. Normally, lessthan 50% of patients with hypertension take their medication regularlyas prescribed. However, in this inner-city project, approximately 90% ofthe Transcendental Meditation group followed their prescribed programregularly throughout the study. In addition, the Transcendental Meditationgroup rated their stress management program as “excellent” on theaverage, and all participants reported that they planned to continue theprogram and would feel comfortable recommending it to their friends.In a study directed towards nonminority elderly, Alexander et al.(1989) examined the effects of the Transcendental Meditation programand other relaxation and self-development techniques on mental andphysical health. After three months of follow-up, the TranscendentalMeditation group showed a 12-point reduction in blood pressure, similarto the African American study above, as well as improvements inmental agility and health. Also, a higher proportion of the TranscendentalMeditation group regularly practiced their technique (80%) ascompared to the other programs. Most important, after three years,the survival rate for the Transcendental Meditation group was 100%,as compared to an average survival rate of 76.6% for the control groups.Transcendental Meditation Program and Preventionof Cardiovascular DiseaseThe two other major risk factors for heart disease, namely, cholesteroland smoking, have been significantly reduced in Transcendental Meditationpractitioners. Thus, it is not surprising that Orme-Johnson (1987)found an 87% lower rate of hospitalization for heart disease in TranscendentalMeditation meditators compared to matched nonmeditators.374