Skip to content

A randomized controlled trial of meditation and health education on carotid intima-media thickness and major adverse cardiovascular events in Black men and women

Keith C Norris, John Salerno, C. Noel Bairey Merz, Vidya Kaushik, Simon Gelleta, Amparo Castillo, Sanford Nidich, Carolyn Gaylord-King, Robert H Schneider

Frontiers in Medicine March 19, 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1513699 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized clinical trial Peer reviewed
Sample size 197
Population Black adults with CVD or at high risk
Interventions Transcendental Meditation Health education
Duration 12 months for cIMT; up to 5 years (maximum) for MACE; exploratory follow-up up to 14 years
Topics Meditation
Keywords Stress management Transcendental meditation Health disparities Minority health Cardiovascular disease
Registration NCT05642936
Key findings Transcendental Meditation reduced the relative risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 65% at five years compared to health education, but did not significantly affect carotid intima-media thickness at one year.

Abstract

IntroductionBlack Americans suffer from disproportionately high rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Psychosocial stress contributes to this disparity. Previous studies reported that the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique reduced CVD risk factors, surrogate endpoints, and clinical events in high-risk populations. However, no study has evaluated the effects of stress reduction with meditation on surrogate CVD markers such as carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) along with CVD clinical events. Therefore, this randomized clinical trial evaluated the long-term effects of meditation and health education (HE) on cIMT and CVD events in high-risk Black adults.Materials and methodsParticipants were Black women and men with CVD or at high risk who were randomized to either TM or HE. The primary outcome was a change in cIMT measured using B-mode ultrasound at baseline and 12 months. The main secondary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) at 5 years (maximum) of follow-up. Other secondary outcomes were MACE at 1 and 10 years of follow-up, blood pressure, and serum lipids after 1 year. Exploratory variables were a comparison of cIMT changes to historical controls and MACE after 14 years.ResultsThere were 197 randomized participants, of whom 136 completed posttest for cIMT. After 1 year, the TM and HE groups showed average cIMT changes of −0.0004 and −0.0003 mm, respectively, with no significant difference between the groups. Additionally, there were no significant differences between the groups in lipid levels or BP. However, both TM and HE groups showed prevention of progression of cIMT compared to historical controls at 12 months. In the survival analysis of MACE, there was a 65% relative risk reduction in the TM group after 5 (maximum) years of follow-up (HR = 0.346; 95% CI = 0.134–0.893; p = 0.017). At 1 and 10 years of follow-up, there were significant risk reductions in the TM vs. HE group, which was not significant at 14 years (all yearly maximums).DiscussionBoth treatment groups demonstrated prevention of progression of cIMT over 12 months compared to historical controls. However, the TM group showed a relative risk reduction for MACE of 65% at 5 years. Therefore, as a lifestyle modification method, TM may be useful in the secondary prevention of CVD in this and possibly other high-risk groups.Clinical trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05642936.

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment 2003 Randomized controlled trial n = 41
Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients 2000 Randomized controlled trial n = 145
Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults 2008 Randomized controlled trial n = 139
Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students 2007 Randomized controlled trial n = 40
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients 2004 Randomized controlled trial n = 73

Citations in the library

Cited by 1

Cites 12

and 7 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Meditation