Dr. Liang Wang Publishes on Meditation and Blood Pressure

Dr. Liang Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, has coauthored an article in the Journal of Hypertension. The article, entitled “Meditation and blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.”  Co-authors were from the University of Georgia and Clemson University.

The authors examined reports that evaluated the change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure , stratified by type of meditation (transcendental meditation vs. non-transcendental meditation intervention) and by type of blood pressure measurement (ambulatory blood pressure monitoring vs. non- ambulatory blood pressure monitoring measurement).

The authors found that studies using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring documented a reduction of 3.77mmHg and 2.18mmHg, respectively, for systolic and diastolic blood pressure for non-transcendental meditation, and a reduction of 4.26 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure for transcendental meditation. While the study showed a reduction of systolic blood pressure by 2.49 mmHg for transcendental meditation, this was determined to not be of statistical significance.

Studies using non-ambulatory blood pressure monitoring showed a reduction of 5.57 mmHg and 2.86 mmHg, respectively for systolic and diastolic blood pressure for transcendental meditation, and a reduction of 5.09 and 2.57, for non-transcendental meditation. 

The findings of this study suggest that both types of meditation may serve as an alternative intervention to reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

The Journal of Hypertension is the official journal of the International Society of Hypertension, and European Society of Hypertension, with the current impact factor of 5.062.