Youthfulness, Aging and Longevity

Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Program
on Aging

PHYSIOLOGY

Increase with ageing; Decrease with TM
Blood pressure – systolic [9-14, 22-23, 29-31, 40]
Blood pressure – diastolic [9-14, 23, 29-31]
Atherosclerosis [24]
Heart failure [27]
Visual evoked potentials – P300 latency [62]
Reflex latency (monosynaptic reflex) [169]
Reflex recovery time (paired H-reflex) [170]
Muscular contraction time (fast and mixed muscles) [169]
Susceptibility to stress [80, 105, 180-181, 190, 265]
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate [64]
Insomnia (time to fall asleep) [76, 193, 324]
Sleep disturbance (awakenings per night) [76, 193, 324]
Daytime sleep [76]

Decrease with ageing; Increase with TM
Cardiovascular efficiency [26-27, 31, 34, 273-274]
Vital capacity [273-274]
Cerebral blood flow [112, 116, 160]
EEG alpha power [101-104, 107-108, 120, 141, 143-147, 154]
Temperature homeostasis [67]
Neuromuscular co-ordination [273-274]
Periodontal health [84]
Physical health and well-being in later life [22, 9-11, 27]
Longevity [20-22, 60]

BIOCHEMISTRY

Increase with ageing; Decrease with TM
Serum cholesterol [47-48, 276]
Insulin resistance [23]

Decrease with ageing; Increase with TM
DHEA-S (dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate) [61]
Efficiency of endocrine control (pituitary-thyroid axis) [93]
Glucose tolerance [55-56]

PERCEPTION AND MIND-BODY CO-ORDINATION
Decrease with ageing; Increase with TM
Visual perception [22, 158, 244, 267]
Dichotic listening [265]
Field independence [236, 241, 243, 260-262]
Perceptual flexibility [22, 158, 244, 268]
Perceptual-motor performance [63, 259, 268-270]
Complex sensory-motor performance [269-270]

Increase with ageing; Decrease with TM
Auditory threshold [65-66, 1-2]

Behavioural rigidity [22, 268]
Reaction time – simple [63, 258, 273-274]
Reaction time – complex [259, 158]

PSYCHOLOGY
Decrease with ageing; Increase with TM
Fluid intelligence [233, 236, 238, 243, 63]
Creativity [236, 245, 247, 249]
Learning ability [22, 248, 250]
Memory – verbal [250]
Memory – visual [63]
Organization of memory [251]
Cognitive flexibility [22, 236, 244, 158]
Self-evaluation of health and well-being [22, 70, 80]
Mental health and well-being in later life [22, 27]

Increase with ageing; Decrease with TM
Depression [27, 69-70, 202-203, 235, 277]

REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH CARE
Increase with ageing; Decrease with TM
Patient days in hospital (medical and surgical) [4-5]
Outpatient visits (medical and surgical) [4-5]
Health care costs [6-8]
Rise in health care needs with advancing age [4]
Rise in health care costs with advancing age [8]

In keeping with these observations, a study employing a standardized ageing index found that the biological age of middle-aged individuals practising Transcendental Meditation was significantly younger than both their chronological age and the biological age of non-meditating controls. The longer subjects had been practising TM, the greater the degree to which biological age was younger than chronological age [59]. A British study subsequently found similar results in a younger population [65-66].

A meticulously controlled, randomized study from Harvard University found that elderly individuals who learned Transcendental Meditation showed greater improvements in cognitive and behavioural flexibility, learning ability, self-assessment of well-being and ageing, systolic blood pressure, and staff assessment of mental health than subjects taught either a relaxation procedure or ‘mindfulness’ training, or who acted as a no-treatment control group. Those who learned the relaxation procedure (which attempted to imitate TM) showed no improvement on any measure. A clear majority of TM subjects rated their technique as personally useful and easy to practise, in contrast to lower ratings for the other techniques [22].

Strikingly, after three years, all those who had learned Transcendental Meditation were still living in contrast to lower survival rates for the other three groups and for the remaining inhabitants of the institutions where the study was conducted [22]. Moreover, significantly greater longevity in the TM group was subsequently maintained over a 15-year follow-up period. Average survival times were 2.2 years (18%) longer for cardiovascular mortality and 1.73 years (19%) longer for all-cause mortality in the TM group, compared to the other three groups combined [60].

These findings are supported by an eight-year randomized controlled study showing reduced cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in elderly African Americans with mild high blood pressure [21]. A third analysis combined data from these two studies, totalling 202 subjects. Mortality rates were significantly reduced among TM subjects compared to controls: 23% lower for all-cause mortality, and 30% lower for cardiovascular mortality [20].

Increased health care needs and costs are among the most important correlates of ageing. As discussed above, a 14-year study of medical expenses among people over 65 years in Quebec showed that individuals practising TM had markedly reduced annual change in payments to doctors compared to matched controls, with a cumulative difference of 64.2% after five years [8]. An earlier American study of health insurance data also found relatively little increase in health care needs with advancing age among individuals practising Transcendental Meditation, in contrast to a marked increase seen in a normative control group [4].

Middle-aged and older individuals practising TM have been found to maintain higher levels of the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) than controls. DHEAS usually declines steadily throughout adult life; low levels have been linked to a variety of diseases and to increased mortality. On average, DHEAS levels in individuals practising TM were comparable to levels of non-meditators who were 5-10 years younger—a difference that could not be explained by variations in diet, weight, or exercise [61].

In another study, individuals practising Transcendental Meditation were found to have lower average erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and a higher frequency of zero ESR compared to controls. Increased ESR is correlated with ageing and is a well-established clinical marker of inflammation [64].

Aging research has focused extensively on the role of free radicals – small, highly reactive molecules or molecular fragments which can powerfully oxidize and damage vital bio-molecules, injuring tissues and disrupting physiological repair mechanisms. Free radicals are thought to be involved in key aspects of ageing and are also implicated in many major diseases, including coronary heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis [90]. A recent study examined free radical activity, as measured by ultraweak photon emissions at 12 anatomical locations, in 60 middle-aged male subjects practising either TM or other forms of meditation, or acting as non-meditating controls. Subjects who practised TM showed significantly lower free radical activity than both controls (at all 12 anatomical sites) and practitioners of other types of meditation (at 11 out of 12 sites). Compared to non-meditating controls, free radical activity was 27% lower among TM subjects, compared to 17% lower in practitioners of other techniques [50]. This investigation supports an earlier study showing lower blood levels of lipid peroxides (another index of free radical activity) in elderly people who practised Transcendental Meditation compared to non-meditating peers [49].