Want to live longer? Meditation may be key. Researchers have found that meditation linked to lower rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and coronary artery disease.
The study, published the American Journal of Cardiology, shows that it may help with blood pressure, cholesterol level, quitting smoking, and overall cardiovascular health.
“I believe in meditation, as it can give us a sense of calm, peace, and stress reduction, leading to improvement of our emotional well-being,” said study researcher ChayakritKrittanawong from the Baylor College of Medicine in the US.
For the findings, the research team looked at data on more than 61,000 survey participants. Of those, almost 6,000 (nearly 10 per cent) said they participated in some form of meditation.
The researchers found that people who meditated had lower rates of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and coronary artery disease, compared with those who did not meditate.
The greatest difference was in coronary artery disease. Those who meditated were 51 per cent as likely as those who didn’t to have the disease.
The prevalence of other cardiovascular risks in the meditation group compared with the non-meditation group was 65 per cent for high cholesterol, 70 per cent for diabetes, 76 per cent for stroke, and 86 per cent for high blood pressure.
The researchers controlled for other factors connected to cardiovascular risks, such as age, sex, cigarette smoking, and body mass index. After adjusting for these factors, the effect of meditation was still significant.
“Many types of meditation exist. Most focus on attention and awareness. Meditation has been shown to increase physical and mental relaxation,” explained Krittanawong.
Practising meditation has been linked to decreased stress, greater mindfulness, and improved psychological health.
According to the researchers, It may even lead to long-term functional and anatomical changes in the brain. Meditation is also simple, cost-effective, and low-risk.
Considering all these factors, the researchers concluded that meditation is “probably” associated with lower prevalence of cardiovascular risk.
They noted that the study adds to a growing body of research on the potential benefits of meditation. (IANS)
Universal testing may help reduce Covid-19 infection: JHU study
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) have stressed that universal testing may help reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes Covid-19. According to estimates in an article published in The New York Times, although only 10 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the US have occurred in long-term care facilities, they are responsible for 42 per cent of deaths caused by the disease.
However, a team of infectious disease experts at JHU believes the actual number of Covid-19 infections nationally in long-term care facilities may be much higher because healthcare providers are missing asymptomatic cases.
This discrepancy may make it more difficult to reduce or prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the very susceptible population living in these centres, the researchers warned in a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
“More testing resources are urgently needed to identify the true burden of Covid-19 in long-term care facilities so that we can be more successful in curbing infection and mortality in one of the disease’s major hot spots,” said study senior author Morgan Katz from the JHU.
In their study, the researchers performed “universal testing” for SARS-CoV-2 among all 893 men and women at 11 long-term care facilities in Maryland, US.
Previously, only residents who showed symptoms of Covid-19 had been “target tested” by the local health departments.
Among the 893 universally tested, 354 people — nearly 40 per cent — were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, compared to 153 (17 per cent) identified in earlier target testing based on symptoms.
The universal screening, therefore, raised the number of Covid-19 cases among the residents in the state’s long-term care facilities from 153 to 507 (57 per cent), a 231 per cent increase. Of those who tested positive, the researchers reported that 281 (55 per cent) were asymptomatic.
“These results underscore the importance of universal testing, as symptom-based approaches may miss a substantial number of cases in long-term care facilities,” said study lead author Benjamin Bigelow.
“Unrecognised asymptomatic cases among residents can severely hinder preventive strategies and increase the risk of the virus dangerously spreading,” Bigelow added.
