Vernon A. Barnes

Impact of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular function at rest and during acute stress in adolescents with high normal blood pressure.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the impact of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program on cardiovascular (CV) reactivity in adolescents with high normal BP. METHOD Thirty-five adolescents [34 African Americans (AAs), 1 Caucasian American (CA); ages 15-18 years] with resting systolic blood pressure (SBP) between the 85th and 95th percentile for their age and gender on three consecutive occasions, were randomly assigned to either TM (n=17) or health education control (CTL, n=18) groups. The TM group engaged in 15-min meditation twice each day for 2 months including sessions during school lunch break. Primary CV outcome measures were changes in blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and cardiac output (CO) at rest and in response to two laboratory stressors, a simulated car driving stressor and an interpersonal social stressor interview. RESULTS The TM group exhibited greater decreases in resting SBP (P<.03) from pre- to postintervention, compared to the CTL group. The TM group exhibited greater decreases from pre- to postintervention in SBP, HR, and CO reactivity (Ps<.03) to the simulated car driving stressor, and in SBP reactivity (P<.03) to the social stressor interview. CONCLUSION The TM program appears to have a beneficial impact upon CV functioning at rest and during acute laboratory stress in adolescents at-risk for hypertension.

Impact of meditation on resting and ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in youth.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a meditation program on resting and ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate in youth. Methods: Data from 73 middle school students (age 12.3 ± 0.6 years) randomly assigned by classroom to either meditation (N = 34) or health education control (N = 39) groups were analyzed. The meditation groups engaged in 10-minute sessions at school and at home after school each day for 3 months. Resting (seated) systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate measurements were obtained pretest and posttest on three consecutive school days using Dinamap 1846SX monitors. Ambulatory systolic blood pressure, ambulatory diastolic blood pressure, and ambulatory heart rate were recorded over 24-hour periods at pretest and posttest every 20 minutes during self-reported normal waking hours and every 30 minutes during self-reported normal sleep hours using Spacelabs 90207 monitors. Results: Significant (p < .05) differences in average change from pretest to posttest were found between the meditation and health eduction control groups for resting systolic blood pressure (−2.7 vs. 1.1 mm Hg), daytime ambulatory systolic blood pressure after school (−2.0 vs. 3.6 mm Hg), daytime ambulatory diastolic blood pressure after school (0.1 vs. 4.3 mm Hg), and daytime ambulatory heart rate after school (−5.3 vs. 0.3 bpm). Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the potential beneficial impact of meditation on blood pressure and heart rate in the natural environment in healthy normotensive youth. AA = African American; ABP = ambulatory BP; ANOVA = analysis of variance; BP = blood pressure; bpm = beats per minute; CA = Caucasian; CTL = health education control; CVD = cardiovascular disease; DBP = diastolic blood pressure; EH = essential hypertension; HR = heart rate; HPA = hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical; MANOVA = multivariate analysis of variance; MED = meditation; MBSR = Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction; PMR = progressive muscle relaxation; SBP = systolic blood pressure; SNS = sympathetic nervous system; TM = Transcendental Meditation™.

A genome-wide methylation study on obesity: Differential variability and differential methylation

Besides differential methylation, DNA methylation variation has recently been proposed and demonstrated to be a potential contributing factor to cancer risk. Here we aim to examine whether differential variability in methylation is also an important feature of obesity, a typical non-malignant common complex disease. We analyzed genome-wide methylation profiles of over 470,000 CpGs in peripheral blood samples from 48 obese and 48 lean African-American youth aged 14–20 y old. A substantial number of differentially variable CpG sites (DVCs), using statistics based on variances, as well as a substantial number of differentially methylated CpG sites (DMCs), using statistics based on means, were identified. Similar to the findings in cancers, DVCs generally exhibited an outlier structure and were more variable in cases than in controls. By randomly splitting the current sample into a discovery and validation set, we observed that both the DVCs and DMCs identified from the first set could independently predict obesity status in the second set. Furthermore, both the genes harboring DMCs and the genes harboring DVCs showed significant enrichment of genes identified by genome-wide association studies on obesity and related diseases, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancers, supporting their roles in the etiology and pathogenesis of obesity. We generalized the recent finding on methylation variability in cancer research to obesity and demonstrated that differential variability is also an important feature of obesity-related methylation changes. Future studies on the epigenetics of obesity will benefit from both statistics based on means and statistics based on variances.

Perceived Stress, Heart Rate, and Blood Pressure among Adolescents with Family Members Deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom

ABSTRACT This study compared the impact of the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom on heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) and self-reported stress levels among three groups of self-categorized adolescents: 1) military dependents with family members deployed; 2) military dependents with no family members deployed; 3) civilian dependents. At the onset and end of the “major hostilities” of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 121 adolescents (mean age = 15.8 ± 1.1 years) completed questionnaires evaluating the psychological impact of the war and were evaluated for HR and BP. The military deployed dependents exhibited significantly higher HR than other groups at both evaluations (both p < 0.04). Ethnicity by group interactions indicated that European American-deployed dependents had higher stress scores at both time points (p < 0.02). Military dependent European Americans exhibited higher systolic BP compared to the other groups on the second evaluation (p < 0.03).

Impact of stress reduction on negative school behavior in adolescents

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine the effect of stress reduction via the Transcendental Meditation program on school rule infractions in adolescents.MethodsForty-five African American adolescents (ages 15–18 years) with high normal systolic blood pressure were randomly assigned to either Transcendental Meditation (n = 25) or health education control (n = 20) groups. The meditation group engaged in 15-min sessions at home and at school each day for 4 months. The control group was presented 15-min sessions of health education at school each day for 4 months. Primary outcome measures were changes in absenteeism, school rule infractions and suspension days during the four-month pretest period prior to randomization compared with the four-month intervention period.ResultsComparing the pretest and intervention periods, the meditation group exhibited a mean decrease of 6.4 absentee periods compared to an increase of 4.8 in the control group (p < .05). The meditation group exhibited a mean decrease of 0.1 infractions over the four months compared to an increase of 0.3 in the control group (p < .03). There was a mean reduction of 0.3 suspension days due to behavior-related problems in the meditation group compared to an increase of 1.2 in the control group (p < .04).ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that the Transcendental Meditation program conducted in the school setting has a beneficial impact upon absenteeism, rule infractions, and suspension rates in African American adolescents.

Acute effects of transcendental meditation on hemodynamic functioning in middle-aged adults.

OBJECTIVE Increased peripheral vasoconstriction (ie, total peripheral resistance, or TPR) has been implicated as playing an important role in the early development of essential hypertension. Some studies have demonstrated that Transcendental Meditation (TM) reduces high blood pressure, but the hemodynamic adjustments behind these blood pressure reductions have not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to provide a preliminary investigation of the acute effects of TM on TPR. METHODS Subjects were 32 healthy adults (16 women and 16 men; 30 white and two African American; mean age, 46.4 +/- 3.9 years). Subjects were divided into a TM group of long-term TM practitioners (eight white women, nine white men, and one African American man; mean years of twice-daily TM practice, 22.4 +/- 6.7) and a control group (eight white women, five white men, and one African American man). Hemodynamic functioning was assessed immediately before and during three conditions: 20 minutes of rest with eyes open (all subjects), 20 minutes of TM (TM group), and 20 minutes of eyes-closed relaxation (control group). RESULTS During eyes-open rest, the TM group had decreases in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and TPR, compared with increases in the control group (SBP: -2.5 vs. +2.4 mm Hg, p < .01; TPR: -0.7 vs. +0.5 mm Hg/liter per minute, p < .004). During TM, there was a greater decrease in SBP due to a concomitantly greater decrease in TPR compared with the control group during eyes-closed relaxation (SBP: -3.0 vs. +2.1 mm Hg, p < .04; TPR: -1.0 vs. +0.3 mm Hg/liter per minute, p < .03). CONCLUSIONS TPR decreased significantly during TM. Decreases in vasoconstrictive tone during TM may be the hemodynamic mechanism responsible for reduction of high blood pressure over time. The results of this study provide a preliminary contribution to the understanding of the underlying hemodynamic mechanisms responsible for the beneficial influence of TM on cardiovascular risk factors.

Breathing Awareness Meditation and LifeSkills Training Programs Influence Upon Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Sodium Excretion Among African American Adolescents

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of breathing awareness meditation (BAM), Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST), and health education control (HEC) on ambulatory blood pressure and sodium excretion in African American adolescents. METHODS Following 3 consecutive days of systolic blood pressure (SBP) screenings, 166 eligible participants (i.e., SBP >50th-95th percentile) were randomized by school to either BAM (n = 53), LST (n = 69), or HEC (n = 44). In-school intervention sessions were administered for 3 months by health education teachers. Before and after the intervention, overnight urine samples and 24-hour ambulatory SBP, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were obtained. RESULTS Significant group differences were found for changes in overnight SBP and SBP, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate over the 24-hour period and during school hours. The BAM treatment exhibited the greatest overall decreases on these measures (Bonferroni adjusted, ps < .05). For example, for school-time SBP, BAM showed a change of -3.7 mmHg compared with no change for LST and a change of -.1 mmHg for HEC. There was a nonsignificant trend for overnight urinary sodium excretion (p = .07), with the BAM group displaying a reduction of -.92 ± 1.1 mEq/hr compared with increases of .89 ± 1.2 mEq/hr for LST and .58 ± .9 mEq/hr for HEC group. CONCLUSION BAM appears to improve hemodynamic function and may affect sodium handling among African American adolescents who are at increased risk for development of cardiovascular disease.

Patterns of body fat deposition in youth and their relation to left ventricular markers of adverse cardiovascular prognosis

The patterns of body fat deposition in healthy youth and their relation to future development of cardiovascular disease remain incompletely understood. To further evaluate these patterns, we measured indirect indexes of central and general fat deposition in healthy adolescents (mean age 15.4+/-2.3 years) with family histories of hypertension. We examined the relation between these indexes and echocardiographic markers of adverse prognosis as well as the effect of gender and ethnicity. All 225 subjects (64% black and 48% female) had > or =1 biologic parent and 1 grandparent with hypertension. Skinfold thicknesses, waist-to-hip girth ratio, Quetelet index, Ponderal index, conicity, and Z score weight - Z score height were measured. Left ventricular (LV) mass, indexed LV mass, relative wall thickness (RWT), and midwall fractional shortening (MFS) were determined using echocardiography. In both black and white subjects, the adiposity indexes were significantly correlated with posterior wall thickness, total LV mass, and indexed LV mass (p <0.05 for all). Additionally, in black subjects, central adiposity was inversely related to MFS and directly related to RWT and septal thickness. General adiposity independently predicted indexed and nonindexed LV mass, whereas central adiposity predicted MFS and RWT. Compared with subjects with normal LV geometry, those with abnormal geometry were heavier and fatter based on every index of obesity (p <0.03 for all). Thus, indexes of fat deposition are significantly correlated with LV markers of adverse prognosis in healthy youth.

Central adiposity and hemodynamic functioning at rest and during stress in adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of central adiposity upon hemodynamic functioning at rest and during stress in adolescents.DESIGN: Cross-sectional, correlational study.SUBJECTS: 46 White and 49 Black normotensive adolescents with family histories of essential hypertension.MEASUREMENTS: Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), cardiac output and total peripheral resistance responses were assessed at rest, during postural change, video game challenge and forehead cold stimulation. Specific lower and higher waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) tertiles were created for each gender and then integrated for analyses. This resulted in a lower WHR tertile of 11 Whites and 21 Blacks and an upper WHR tertile of 15 Whites and 17 Blacks.RESULTS: No differences in age, gender or ethnicity proportions were found between tertile groups (all P>0.21). The upper WHR group showed greater body weight, waist and hip circumferences, body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold and body surface area (all P<0.001). Controlling for peripheral (that is, triceps skinfold) and overall (that is, BMI) adiposity, the upper WHR group exhibited greater SBP (that is, peak response minus mean pre-stressor level) to all three stressors and greater DBP reactivity to postural change and cold pressor (all P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Central adiposity appears to adversely influence hemodynamic functioning during adolescence. Underlying mechanisms responsible for these associations require exploration.

Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents and Adults through the Transcendental Meditation(®) Program: A Research Review Update.

The pathogenesis and progression of cardiovascular diseases are thought to be exacerbated by stress. Basic research indicates that the Transcendental Meditation(®) technique produces acute and longitudinal reductions in sympathetic tone and stress reactivity. In adolescents at risk for hypertension, the technique has been found to reduce resting and ambulatory blood pressure, left ventricular mass, cardiovascular reactivity, and to improve school behavior. Research on adults with mild or moderate essential hypertension has reported decreased blood pressure and reduced use of anti-hypertensive medication. The technique has also been reported to decrease symptoms of angina pectoris and carotid atherosclerosis, to reduce cardiovascular risk factors, including alcohol and tobacco use, to markedly reduce medical care utilization for cardiovascular diseases, and to significantly decrease cardiovascular and all-cause morbidity and mortality. These findings have important implications for inclusion of the Transcendental Meditation program in efforts to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases and their clinical consequences.(®)Transcendental Meditation and TM are trademarks registered in the US. Patent and Trademark Office, licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used with permission.