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Effect of 6 Months of Meditation on Blood Sugar, Glycosylated Hemoglobin, and Insulin Levels in Patients of Coronary Artery Disease.

Shashank Shekhar Sinha, Ajay Kumar Jain, Sanjay Tyagi, S K Gupta, Aarti Sood Mahajan

International Journal of Yoga May 1, 2018 DOI: 10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_30_17 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Controlled study (non-randomized comparison of meditators versus non-meditators) Peer reviewed
Sample size 60
Population Patients with known coronary artery disease
Intervention Meditation
Duration 6 months
Topics Meditation
Keywords Insulin Coronary artery disease Glycosylated hemoglobin Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay
Key points Among 60 coronary artery disease patients, those who practiced meditation for six months showed a significant decrease in blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, and fasting serum insulin levels compared with those who did not meditate. The authors propose that meditation may modulate the physiological stress response through neurohumoral activation, offering a possible therapeutic target for coronary artery disease.

Abstract

Background and

Objectives: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It has been recognized that stress, diabetes, and hypertension are important in etiology and progression of CAD. This study is to evaluate the role of meditation in improving biochemical parameters such as blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, and serum insulin levels in known CAD patients. Material and

Methods: Sixty CAD patients are divided into two groups of which one group did meditation and other did not. Blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, and fasting serum insulin levels were measured before and at the end of 6 months of study in both the groups.

Results: At the end of the study, significant decrease was seen in patients who practiced meditation as compared to other group.

Conclusion: Meditation may modulate the physiological response to stress through neurohumoral activation, which may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of CAD.

Comparable studies

Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients 2003 Pre-post intervention study n = 59
Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample 2010 Pre-post intervention study
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students 2003 Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study n = 302
Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls 2011 Controlled trial with wait-list control group n = 60
The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents 2011 Within-group waitlist controlled trial n = 22

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