One of a kind symposium on 'Role of Meditation for Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases' will be organised by AIIMS Rishikesh on March 9 and 10.

'The two-day conference will bring physicians, scientist and researchers from all over the world doing scientific research on yoga and meditation’s effects on cellular regeneration, longevity, consciousness, and heart health,' the Cardiovascular Department Organising Committee of AIIMS Rishikesh announced this on February 28.

The Cardiovascular Department of AIIMS, Rishikesh will host this conference to bring about a confluence of the latest in modern medicine and ancient healing techniques for today's medical practitioners. Internationally recognised speakers will describe their ground-breaking study, demonstrate models that integrate eastern philosophy and western medicine and provide practical guidance for the use of these techniques in clinical medicine.

“India, with its restricted resources, is facing an epidemic of diabetes mellitus, which leads to cardiovascular diseases. Crores of Rupees are being spent to combat these diseases, which are the biggest killers in the world. This swelling tsunami of cardiovascular cases with available resources can only be mitigated by the integration of yoga and meditation as a scientific entity, along with modern medicine.We believe this kind of symposium will help determine a unique way of combining the best of modern medicine and age-old Hindu practices that is relevant in the scenario,” Dr Bhanu Duggal, HOD Cardiology Department, AIIMS Rishikesh told reporters here.

Dr Indranill Basu Ray, Visiting Professor, AIIMS Rishikesh said, “Worldwide there is an epidemic of Diabetes which is leading to cardiovascular disease and death. India has one of the largest diabetic populations in the world and is slated to overtake the US in the number of patients having and dying due to heart disease.'

'People with diabetes are at an enhanced risk of stroke and heart attack. This grim situation needs serious lifestyle changes in the population along with the latest medical technology to fight it.Research in the last ten years has pointed to the fact that lifestyle modification including meditation and yoga may have both preventive and curative role in multiple cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke," he added.

Dr HR Nagendra, the Vice-Chancellor of SVYASA and one of the Pioneers in Research on Yoga and Heart disease said, "We have devised Yoga techniques that can improve Diabetes Mellitus on thousands of people all over the world.Yoga helps in decrease in the amount of oxygen consumed and breath rate and an increase in breath volume, enhanced cardiac vagal activity, reduced anxiety, concentration and produces a hypo-metabolic physiological state indicating a greater control over the mind, which helps in the management of Diabetes mellitus."

Dr Ravi Kant, Head division of Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, AIIMS Rishikesh said, “India is having an epidemic of Cardiovascular disease. Diabetes contributes to a large extent to this epidemic. For years, exercise has been considered a cornerstone of diabetes management, along with diet and medication.'

On the importance of yoga, Dr Kant said, 'The modern form of yoga is primarily focused on simple physical exercises, breathing exercise, followed by relaxation techniques or meditation. There is an increasing evidence that meditation can play a vital role in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases by reducing stress & a bunch of other mechanisms. Diabetes, Hypertension & other stress related disease has shown amelioration in clinical studies.”