User:Kacart98/Transcendental Meditation

It is not possible to say whether transcendental meditation has significant effect on health, as much of the research is of poor quality, and is marred by a high risk for bias owing to the connection of researchers to the TM organization and by the selection of subjects with a favorable opinion of TM. Some independent systematic reviews have not found health benefits for TM exceeding those produced by other relaxation techniques or health education. A 2013 statement from the American Heart Association said that TM could be considered as a treatment for hypertension, although other interventions such as exercise and device-guided breathing were more effective and better supported by clinical evidence. A 2014 systematic review and meta-analysis funded by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found moderate evidence for improvement in anxiety, depression and pain with low evidence for improvement in stress and mental health-related quality of life. A 2014 Cochrane review found that it was impossible to draw any conclusions about whether TM is effective in preventing cardiovascular disease, as the scientific literature on TM was limited and at "serious risk of bias". A 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis of 12 studies found that TM may reduce blood pressure compared to control groups, although the underlying studies may have been biased and further studies with better designs are needed. '''A recent 2021 review on non-pharmacological hypertension management actually showed that TM showed a significant decline in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both men and women after 3 months of observation. '''

The first studies of the health effects of Transcendental Meditation appeared in the early 1970s. By 2004 the US government had given more than $20 million to Maharishi University of Management to study the effect of meditation on health.