A newly published randomized controlled trial in Frontiers in Medicine has found that the practice of Transcendental Meditation® (TM) may significantly reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in Black men and women at high risk for heart disease. The study compared TM with a standard health education (HE) program and found a 65% relative risk reduction in cardiovascular events over a 5-year period among those who practiced TM.
Black Americans continue to suffer disproportionately from cardiovascular disease (CVD), driven in part by psychosocial stress. This study—one of the largest of its kind—enrolled 200 Black adults with cardiovascular disease or elevated risk and followed them for up to 14 years. Participants were randomly assigned to either the TM program or a conventional health education program aligned with American Heart Association guidelines.
While both groups showed prevention of atherosclerosis progression measured via carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), only the TM group demonstrated a statistically significant and sustained reduction in clinical cardiovascular events over 5 and 10 years.
"This trial is a significant contribution to addressing racial disparities in cardiovascular outcomes," said Dr. Keith Norris, professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's first author. "We found that Transcendental Meditation, a simple, stress-reducing technique, may help prevent heart disease progression and reduce clinical events in a population that is often underserved and at high risk."
The clinical center for the trial was King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. "This is one of the largest and longest studies of its kind," said senior investigator Dr. Robert Schneider, MD, FACC, Distinguished Professor of Integrative Medicine and Health and Director of MIU's Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention. "Our findings replicate and extend earlier NIH-funded research showing that reducing stress through meditation has real, lasting benefits for heart health."
Key Findings:
- 65% reduction in cardiovascular events in the TM group vs. the HE group at 5 years
- Both TM and HE groups prevented progression of cIMT, an early marker of atherosclerosis
- TM may provide sustainable cardiovascular protection when practiced regularly over time
Study participants in the TM group not only had training during the 12-month intervention, but also benefited from lifetime access to follow-up support, which may have helped sustain their health benefits. In contrast, the HE group did not receive continued support beyond the study period.
The researchers suggest that integrating TM into community-based healthcare programs could provide an accessible, low-cost method for reducing cardiovascular disease in high-risk populations.
Study citation: Norris K, Salerno J, Bairey Merz CN, Kaushik V, Gelleta S, Castillo A, Nidich S, Gaylord-King C, Schneider RH (2025). A randomized controlled trial of meditation and health education on carotid intima-media thickness and major adverse cardiovascular events in Black men and women. Frontiers in Medicine. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1513699
