Meditation Linked To Lower Cardiovascular Risk

Wednesday on The Morning News we talked with a guest from the Unity Spiritual Life Center about the benefits of meditation.  Ron Palumbo claimed most all disease can be traced back to stress and that regular meditation was in fact an investment in healing yourself.

"All disease is caused by stress" is a pretty broad statement and I don't agree with it as presented but stress is a significant enough fact to researchers from several hospitals and universities looked at data from the National Health Interview Survey and found that of over 61,000 people who participated, nearly ten percent reported participating in some form of meditation.  What did they find?

The data showed those who meditated, compared with those who didn't, had lower:

cholesterol

high blood pressure

diabetes

stroke

coronary artery disease

The study did not look into what type of meditation the people were doing, or ask about the duration or intensity of the meditation done.

The scientists note that this finding cannot prove cause and effect, but do say that meditation is “probably” associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular issues. Still, the finding echos previous studies that have connected health benefits with meditation.