VEDIC SCIENCE

OF AYURVEDA
FOR TOTAL HEALTH

The Significance of Vedic Medicine for

Modern Health Care

Robert H. Schneider, MD, FACC

Director, Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention
Professor and Dean, Maharishi College of Perfect Health
Maharishi University of Management, USA
Modern Medicine
Discovers
Ancient Science of
Ayurveda
April 15, 2013
 Heart and Mind in Ayurveda
• One who wants to protect the heart, great vessels,
and ojas should particularly avoid afflictions of the
mind.

• He should regularly take measures which are

conducive to heart and ojas and cleansing of srotas
and make efforts for serenity of mind and
knowledge.

Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana, 30:13-14

 American
Heart
Association®
Learn and
Live
Alternative treatments that
include the Transcendental
Meditation technique are
recommended for consideration
in treatment plans for all
individuals with blood
pressure > 120/80 mm Hg.
Brook RD et al., Beyond Medications and Diet:
Alternative Approaches to Lowering Blood
Pressure. A Scientific Statement from the
American Heart Association. Hypertension,
61:00, April 22, 2013
 New Model of
Health Care:

Holistic
Unified Field-Based Medicine
 TOTAL HEALTH

Environment

Body

Mind

Unified Field of Natural Law

 The
Mind
Approach

Scientific Research on
Meditation
The Transcendental Meditation Technique

“Yogas chitta-vrtti-
nirodhah”
Patanjali Yoga-
Sutra, 1.2
250 BC

“Yoga is the least

excited state of
consciousness,
pure
consciousness”
 Health Effects
of the Transcendental
Meditation Program:

Cardiovascular Disease
and Stress-Related Disorders
 American
Heart
Association®
Learn and
Live
The Transcendental
Meditation technique is
the only meditation
practice that has been
shown to lower blood
pressure.
Brook RD et al., Beyond Medications and
Diet: Alternative Approaches to Lowering
Blood Pressure. A Scientific Statement
from the American Heart Association.
Hypertension, 61:00, April, 2013
 Meta Analysis I

American Journal of Hypertension, 21:310-316, 2008

 Meta Analysis II

Current Hypertension Reports, 9:520-528, 2007

Decreased Insulin Resistance in Heart
Patients

Archives of Internal Medicine 166: 1218–1224, 2006

Decreased Cigarette Smoking

Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 13–87, 1994

Cardiovascular disease is the
leading cause of mortality
WORLDWIDE
Reduction of Atherosclerosis

Stroke, 31(3):568–73, 2000

 Effects of Transcendental Meditation Program on
100
Death, Heart Attack and Stroke
90
Risk of Events (Expected Number of Events per

80
Year per 1000 Event-free Persons)

48% lower rate in

70 Transcendental
Meditation practitioners
60
over 5 years follow-up
(p =.025)
50

40

30

20

10

Health Education TM
Schneider RH et al, Circulation: CV Quality and Outcomes, 5:750-758, 2012
 American
Heart
Association®
Learn and
Live
Lower blood pressure
through Transcendental
Meditation practice is also
associated
with substantially reduced
rates of death, heart attack
and stroke.
 Decreased Hospital Admissions Rate in
All Categories of Disease
Admissions/1000 Members

20
p < .00001 Other Groups
15 TM
10

0
Childbirth Intestinal Nose, Heart Genital & Injuries Tumors Bones & Ill-Defined
Throat, Urinary Muscle Condition
6 Lung

0
All Mental Nervous Metabol- Infectious Other Medical Skin Congenital Blood
Disorders System ism Diseases Carveout

Psychosomatic Medicine. 1987; 49:493-507

Mind Over DNA

How Meditation
can change your
genes
 Modern Medicine and Vedic Medicine
Physiology & Medicine Transcendental Meditation
Physiology of Universe
Physiology of Society
Individual
Systems
Organs
Tissues
Cells
Proteins
RNA
DNA
Laws of chemistry & physics

Unified Field of All the Laws of Nature

 Effects of TM vs. health education on
gene expression for telomerase (hTERT)

5
Change in Mean Score

3 p=.05 P<.01

0
TM (Before) TM (After) Health Ed Health Ed (After)
(Before)
Physiological Approaches of
Maharishi Ayurveda

Herbal Supplements
 Decreased Oxidation of Human Low Density Lipoprotein
Comparison of Different Antioxidants

10,600 27,400

10000
Electrophoretic mobility log

1,450
LDL Oxidation

1000

100

10
3.65
1.52
1

MAK-4 MAK-5 Vitamin C Vitamin E probucol

Sharma HM, Hanna AN, Kauffman EM, Newman HA. 1992. Inhibition of Human Low-Density Lipoprotein
Oxidation In Vitro by Maharishi Ayur -Veda Herbal Mixtures. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior ,
V43, pp 1175-1182.
Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 42: 466–467, 1994.
 Effect of Maharishi Amrit Kalash
on Tumor Incidence
initiation and promotion initiation

promotion control
80

Percentage
of 60

rats
40
w ith

tumors 20

0
5 10 15 20
Time (weeks)
Sharma HM, Dwivedi C, Satter BC, et al. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 1990, vol 35, 767-773
 Physiological Approaches of
Maharishi Ayurveda

Physiological Purification Therapies

 Maharishi Ayurveda
Rejuvenation Therapies

Pizzichilli
This „Royal Treatment" is a soft synchronous
massage with running warm herbal oil. Good
for joints and muscles.

Swedana
Herbal steam bath with selected medicinal herbs.
Promotes detoxification.

Shirodhara
A steady flow of pleasant warm oil on the forehead –
administred in absolute silence. Results in deep relaxation,
calmness and mental balance.

Pinda Sweda
Local application of warmth with small linen
bags, filled with a special mixture of highly
effective Maharishi Ayurveda medicinal herbs and
grains.
 Elimination of Environmental Toxins
with the Maharishi Ayurveda Panchakarma Treatment Program

-1%
Reduction in %

-20

- 58 %
-40

-60
Panchakarma 12 Days No Treatment

Mean Reduction 0f 10 different Environmental Toxins in the Blood

Robert E. Herron, PhD, and John B. Fagan, PhD: Lipophil-mediated Reduction of Toxicants in Humans:
An Evaluation of an Ayurvedic Detoxification Procedure, Alternative Therapies, sept/oct 2002, Vo
 Multimodality
Maharishi Ayurveda
Health Care
 Effects of a Multimodality Maharishi Vedic Health
Program on Atherosclerosis in Older Individuals

+ 0.3 MVM Usual

Care and
Modern

+ 0.15 High risk

All
carotid artery subjects
subjects
intima-medial thickness p = .004
0
changes in mm

- 0.15

- 0.3
Fields, JZ, et.al., Effect of a Multimodality Natural Medicine Program on Carotid
Atherosclerosis in Older Subjects: A Pilot Trial of Maharishi Vedic Medicine. American
Journal of Cardiology, 2002.
Maharishi Vedic Vibration
Technology

Sound Therapy
 Near Environment
Healthy Architecture in Ayurveda
 Distant Environment

Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to

Preventive Medicine and Public Health
 Collective Health
in Ayurveda

•Stress in society leads to disease in the

individual and epidemics

•Therefore, reduction of societal stress is

necessary for complete health

Charak Samhita, Vimanasthan 3:1-36

Hagelin JS, Rainforth MV, Cavanaugh KL, Alexander CN, et al. Social Indicators Research, 47 (2), 1999
 Chronobiology
and Chronomedicine
 TOTAL HEALTH

Environment

Body

Mind

Unified Field of Natural Law