Study to compare traditional and spiritual post-heart attack recovery approaches

Surviving a heart attack is a frightening experience, one that can change a person for life. Even having severe heart-related chest pain can wake a person up to his or her mortality.

And to keep themselves alive, survivors are often told they should make even more changes in their life — including diet, exercise, stress reduction and medication. Research has shown these changes can delay or prevent further heart problems.

That may take care of the body. But what about the spirit? Not much scientific research has looked at how spirituality, and techniques like meditation, can affect post-heart attack recovery. And while researchers know that depression is common among heart attack survivors, not much is known about what factors can ease it.

Now, a University of Michigan study will try to find out how a spirit-based approach to heart attack recovery stacks up against the proven lifestyle-change approach.

U-M researchers are now seeking participants for a scientific, head-to-head comparison of the mental and physical effects of both approaches.

The study, called Healing the Heart, is a joint effort by Michigan Integrative Medicine and the U-M Preventive Cardiology Program, part of the U-M Cardiovascular Center. Michigan Integrative Medicine, or MIM, is a U-M research and clinical care program that since 1997 has used scientific methods to study complementary and alternative treatments and techniques.

The study has just begun enrolling heart attack survivors, and those with unstable angina (severe heart-related chest pain), for a free six-month study that will randomly assign participants into three groups. Men and women between 25 and 75 years of age are eligible.

One group will take part in a four-day weekend training session in northern Michigan led by Sandra Ingerman, who has developed a spiritual healing practice called Medicine for the Earth based on ancient spiritual practices from around the world. It will include meditation, guided imagery, journal writing and outdoor activities.

The second group will also have a four-day weekend experience in northern Michigan, but with physicians and nurses from the U-M's noted Preventive Cardiology Program. There, participants will learn diet, exercise, stress-reduction, meditation and other lifestyle techniques that have helped many heart patients.

The third group will not go on a weekend trip, but will be monitored and interview throughout the six-month period just like the other two groups. They will continue to receive whatever follow-up care their own physicians have advised, and will have the chance to participate in a Medicine for the Earth workshop once the study is over.

Over the six-month period, all participants will complete a series of standardized questionnaires about their physical and emotional health and state of mind. They'll also be asked to give small blood samples and have their weight, blood pressure and heart rate measured at several points during the study, which will allow the researchers to track any physical effects.

For more information on heart-related research at Michigan Integrative Medicine and the U-M Preventive Cardiology Program, call 1-800-742-2300 and enter extension 6532. Or visit www.med.umich.edu/mim or http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/adult/serpre.htm.