Effect of Meditation on Endothelial Function in Black Americans With Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomized Trial.
Author: Vaccarino V, Kondwani KA, Kelley ME, Murrah NV, Boyd L, Ahmed Y, Meng YX, Gibbons GH, Hooper WC, De Staercke C, Quyyumi AA.
Affiliation:
Departments of Epidemiology (V.V., N.V.M.) and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics (M.E.K.), Rollins School of Public Health, and the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology (V.V., Y.A., A.A.Q.), School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; the Cardiovascular Research Institute (K.A.K., L.B., Y.X.M., G.H.G.), Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; and the National Center on Birth Defects, Division of Hereditary Blood Disorders (W.C.H., C.D.S.), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Conference/Journal: Psychosom Med.
Date published: 2013 Jun 20
Other:
Word Count: 242
ObjectivesPsychological stress may play a role in metabolic syndrome. A consequence of metabolic syndrome is endothelial dysfunction, which is also influenced by psychological stress. We sought to compare the effect of consciously resting meditation (CRM), a sound based meditation, with a control intervention of health education (HE) on endothelial function in the setting of metabolic syndrome.MethodsSixty-eight black Americans with metabolic syndrome risk factors (age, 30-65 years) were randomized to either CRM (n = 33) or HE (n = 35); interventions were matched for frequency and duration of sessions and lasted 12 months. Endothelial function was assessed by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation at baseline and at 6 and 12 months. Arterial elasticity, metabolic risk factors, and psychosocial and behavioral variables were secondary end points.ResultsAlthough flow-mediated dilation improved in the CRM group for 12 months, this increase was not significantly higher than that in the HE group (p = .51 for the interaction between group and time). Non-endothelium-dependent dilation and arterial elasticity did not change in either group. Most metabolic syndrome risk factors showed beneficial trends in the CRM group only. A risk factor score counting the number of metabolic syndrome components decreased in the CRM group only (p = .049 for the interaction between treatment group and time).ConclusionsAmong black Americans with metabolic syndrome risk factors, CRM, did not improve endothelial function significantly more than a control intervention of HE. CRM resulted in favorable trends in metabolic syndrome risk factors, which were examined as secondary outcomes.
KEYWORDS:
Endothelium, metabolic syndrome, obesity, stress
PMID: 23788695
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