No, 'Chanting Vitthala Mantra' Won't Prevent Heart Attacks, Claim Is Misleading

This claim is misleading, the study conducted did not prove that changing this mantra can prevent heart attacks.

Fact-check: A misleading claim about chanting vitthal vitthal mantra can prevent heart attacks is going viral on social media.

(Photo: The Quint)

A claim is going viral, which states that chanting the 'vitthala vitthala' mantra for up to nine to ten minutes every day can supposedly prevent 'heart attacks'.

The viral video also mentions that several people suffered heart attacks while playing dandiya or in the gym.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

What's the truth?: This claim is misleading.

• We did not find any research which states that chanting this specific mantra will "prevent heart attacks".

• We also spoke to experts who dismissed these claims.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search and came across a study titled "Effect of chanting ‘Vitthal’ on Heart: A Clinical Study."

• This was published in April 2014 by a journal called Asian Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

• This study was conducted by various medical research institutes from Pune and was performed on only 30 healthy individuals over a period of 10 days.

• These 30 people were made to chant the ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’ mantra daily for 9 minutes.

• However, it nowhere mentions that chanting this will help prevent heart attacks.

• The results only mentioned the health metrics such as blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate, of these 30 individuals had shown improvement compared to their initial readings.

This claim is misleading.

(Source: 2014 Study/Screenshot)

• The study also included a disclaimer stating, “The present exploratory study throws light on the relationship between chanting Vitthal and physiologic and energy profile of Heart. A large-scale clinical trial can be conducted in the future to explore the role of chanting Vitthal not only in Healthy Volunteers as well as cardiac patients.”

• We did not find any other research or report which support the claim.

• According to World Health Organisation (WHO), the heart can be kept healthier by eating a heart-healthy diet, losing weight, increasing physical exercise and avoiding tobacco and alcohol.

We reached out to experts: The Quint spoke with Dr Prashant Pawar, Consultant-Cardiology, Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Navi Mumbai, who dismissed the viral claim.

• He said, "This is factually false. This is a very small study, which was done on 30 patients, so we can't say that this is a rational or proven study. This was not even a randomised trial or well-controlled so it does not prove that chanting such mantras can prevent heart diseases or attacks."

• He added that chanting of shlokas can help relax one's mind but it cannot prevent chances of heart attacks.

More studies: Another study from 2000, Functional brain mapping of the Relaxation Response and Meditation, used MRI scans to find out that meditation activates structures within the nervous system involved in attention and control.

• Scientific Analysis of Mantra-Based Meditation and its Beneficial Effects: An Overview, a study from 2017 stated that with correct technique while chanting, it can help reduce symptoms of anxiety including slowing heart rate, reducing blood pressure, and oxygenating the brain.

Conclusion: A misleading claim about chanting vitthal vitthal mantra can prevent heart attacks is going viral on social media without correct context.

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