The Effects of the Transcendental Meditation Program on the Exercise Performance of Patients with Angina Pectoris1

Sixteen patients with documented angina pectoris were exercised on a bicycle ergometer to an end point of moderately severe angina pectoris. Electrocardiograms and blood pressure were taken at one-minute intervals. The reliability of the testing procedure was gauged from the reproducibility of the values of both maximum ST segment depression and maximum double product at the end point of the tests. Patients were tested, and then ten began the Transcendental Meditation program. All patients were retested after eight months, and the ten patients who participated in the Transcendental Meditation program showed a 14.5% increase in exercise tolerance, an 11% increase in maximum work load, a 16% increase in delay of onset of ST segment depression, and a 7.25% decrease in double product after three minutes of exercise. There was no significant change in the control patients.