Each year over 8.6 million women globally die of heart disease and stroke. This is more than the total number of women who die from all cancers, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined.
And yet, most heart disease and stroke is preventable.
The most efficacious way of keeping your heart healthy
What are the causes of heart disease? How to prevent these ailments? In this video recorded for TM Women, Go Red for Women spokesperson Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum explains why the Transcendental Meditation practice can be a game changer.
Dr. Steinbaum, director of Women’s Heart Health at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says:
“It’s only very recently that we’ve understood the impact of stress in the formation of heart disease. The fight-or-flight response releases stress hormones, increases blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and inflammation. All of this leads, in turn, to heart disease.
“When I prescribe a medication for heart disease, I’m happy if I get efficacy of treatment at about 30%. But now I know that if I treat heart disease with something like Transcendental Meditation, I can get as much as 48-66% improvement with treatment.
“In April 2013, the American Heart Association made a scientific statement that Transcendental Meditation was the only form of stress management and meditation technique to reduce blood pressure. TM is the most efficacious for us to treat one of the major risk factors of heart disease – stress.
“I very clearly say to my patients: ‘Let’s treat blood pressure. Let’s treat your cholesterol. Let’s treat your stress. And the way we’re going to treat these is with Transcendental Meditation practice.“
Together with its members across the world, the World Heart Federation is running the Go Red for Women campaign to improve women’s knowledge of heart disease and stroke so that they can take action and achieve longer, better heart-healthy lives.
