JMVRI Issue No. 22 is dedicated to Ayurveda and Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation technique in the amelioration of COVID-19 pandemic impacts. The first paper in this Issue, titled “Evaluation of Ayurveda in the Management of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients in an Intensive Care Unit: An Early Pandemic Retrospective Case-Control Study” (pp. 11–34), is by Lee Fergusson, Neetu Jain, Raghuram Ayyagari, Yogita Munjal, Raj K. Manchanda, and Kenneth L. Cavanaugh. The second paper in this Issue, titled “The Group Effect of Transcendental Meditation on Peruvian Students in Home Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic” (pp. 35–58), is by Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, and Anna Bonshek.
JMVRI Issue Number 22
JMVRI Paper 22.1
Evaluation of Ayurveda in the Management of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients in an Intensive Care Unit: An Early Pandemic Retrospective Case-Control Study
Authors: Lee Fergusson, Neetu Jain, Raghuram Ayyagari, Yogita Munjal, Raj K. Manchanda, and Kenneth L. Cavanaugh
This paper can be downloaded via the following link:
Citation: Fergusson, L., Jain, N., Ayyagari, R., Munjal, Y., Manchanda, R. K., & Cavanaugh, K. L. (2023). Evaluation of Ayurveda in the management of critically ill COVID-19 patients in an intensive care unit: An early pandemic retrospective case-control study. Journal of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, 22, 11–34.
Summary (excerpt):
While theorists and clinicians propose Ayurvedic medicines have a salutary therapeutic effect on infectious diseases by strengthening the body’s natural immunity, few attempts have been made to examine this possible effect on the SARS-COV-2 virus during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study seeks to redress this evidentiary shortfall in critically ill patients.
The primary objective of the study is an investigation of survival rates of critically ill COVID-19 patients who were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital in India and administered Ayurvedic medicines along with standard modern Western medical (MWM) treatment. In a case-control study design of 241 critically ill COVID-19 patients, we compared the clinical outcomes of two groups: one group of 110 patients who received government-mandated MWM treatment; and a voluntary group of 131 patients who received both MWM treatment and recommended Ayurvedic medicines according to a Government-approved protocol.
Using logistic regression analysis, findings indicate the odds of survival for ICU patients who received both MWM and Ayurvedic medicine were 2.5 times those who received MWM only, representing an increase of 154% in the odds of survival. This study of critically ill patients thereby provides preliminary evidence of the association of Ayurvedic therapeutics and COVID-19 patients in critical care during the early phase of the pandemic in India.
JMVRI Paper 22.2
The Group Effect of Transcendental Meditation on Peruvian Students in Home Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, and Anna Bonshek
This paper can be downloaded via the following link:
Citation: Fergusson, L., Ortiz Cabrejos, J., & Bonshek, A. (2023). The group effect of Transcendental Meditation on Peruvian students in home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, 22, 35–58.
Summary (excerpt):
Approximately 2,000 indigenous students at Institución Educativa Privada Prescott in Puno, located in the Andes high on the Altiplano of Lake Titicaca, have been instructed in the Transcendental Meditation technique since 1996. In this study, we examine the impact of home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic on physical, cognitive, and emotional health, and school performance for a group of 54 meditating students and contrast these results to a comparison group of 53 meditating students who reported their health and learning prior to the pandemic.
The study is the first to consider the association of home isolation on students practicing meditation in a group: A) at the same time of day and in the same place as part of their daily school routine; or B) during online sessions at the same time of day but in a different place. Findings indicate both approaches to group meditation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic produced favourable results for student health and school performance.