US researchers say heart disease patients who practise Transcendental Meditation have reduced death rates. At a meeting of the American Heart Association they said they had randomly assigned 201 African Americans to meditate or to make lifestyle changes.<br/>The men and women had an average age of 59 years and a narrowing of the arteries in their hearts. They practised for 20 minutes twice a day. After nine years, the meditation group had a 47 per cent reduction in deaths, heart attacks and strokes.<br/>The research was carried out by the Medical College in Wisconsin with the Maharishi University in Iowa. It was funded by the National Institute of Health and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.<br/>