Tai Chi and Health

TAI CHI is no Magic Bullet, but it may be one way to reduce the cost of Health Care, if people would be informed about its benefits, and would decide to take responsibility for their own health. 

According to Bill Douglas, founder of World Tai Chi Day: "If you look at a Kaiser Permanente study that says that 70 per cent of illnesses are caused by stress, you're talking about a potential savings of trillions of dollars, year after year if we teach our citizens effective stress-management techniques on a massive scale."

For decades, Bill Douglas has believed that the regular practice of the Chinese martial art, meant to unblock the flow of energy though the body, can be used to treat and even prevent a wide range of illnesses.

The medical world is beginning to agree with him - The May 2009 Harvard Health Publication said that Tai Chi - should more aptly be called moving medication.

Latest Harvard Tai Chi Research Report:

Arthritis. In a 40-person study at Tufts University, presented in October 2008 at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, an hour of Tai Chi twice a week for 12 weeks reduced pain and improved mood and physical functioning more than standard stretching exercises in people with severe knee osteoarthritis. 

 

Sleep problems. In a University of California, Los Angeles, study of 112 healthy older adults with moderate sleep complaints, 16 weeks of Tai Chi improved the quality and duration of sleep significantly more than standard sleep education. The study was published in the July 2008 issue of the journal Sleep.

Stroke. In 136 patients who'd had a stroke at least six months earlier, 12 weeks of Tai Chi improved standing balance more than a general exercise program that entailed breathing, stretching, and mobilizing muscles and joints involved in sitting and walking. Findings were published in the January 2009 issue of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

Heart disease. A 53-person study at National Taiwan University found that a year of Tai Chi significantly boosted exercise capacity, lowered blood pressure, and improved levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and C-reactive protein in people at high risk for heart disease. The study, which was published in the September 2008 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found no improvement in a control group that did not practice Tai Chi.

-- Harvard Medical School's Harvard Health Publication, May, 2009

Join us to celebrate World Tai Chi Day 

on Saturday, April 24, 2010

in Dothan, Alabama, USA 

Solomon Park 10:00 a.m.

Try Tai Chi for Knee Arthritis

Tai chi may help to reduce pain and improve physical function in people with knee arthritis, according to the results of a study published in the November 2009 issue of Arthritis Care and Research. Tai chi is a form of Chinese martial arts that uses slow rhythmic movements to encourage mental relaxation and improve balance. Now it seems that this traditional discipline is a reasonable treatment for older adults with arthritis of the knee.

Researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass. conducted a trial of 40 older adults with an average age of 65 years who had symptomatic arthritis of the knee. Study participants were randomly assigned to either 60 minutes of tai chi or twice-weekly sessions of attention control focused on wellness education and stretching for a period of 12 weeks. The knee arthritis patients who were assigned to the tai chi group reported significantly greater improvement in their arthritis pain. They also reported significantly greater improvements in physical function, depression, and health-related quality of life.

Tai chi is a mind-body approach which seems to be effective in treating arthritis-related knee pain in older adults who are otherwise healthy. The study authors point out that tai chi meets all of the current exercise recommendations for arthritis of the knee, including range-of-motion and flexibility exercises, muscle conditioning, and aerobic training. It may even be that the mental discipline of tai chi can help to minimize the negative effects of chronic arthritis by improving psychological sense of well-being.

Article by June Chen, MD in HealthandAge.com

Tai CHi and Arthritis

Tai chi, the slow, stately Chinese exercise, may also reduce the chronic pain of people who suffer from osteoarthritis.

That is the finding of a study conducted by Chenchen Wang of the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.

Local practitioners of the ancient Chinese art agree...

Read the Full article at : Tai chi combats arthritis, study shows

Ancient Chinese Exercise Relieves Knee Pain

Released October 22, 2008

Tai chi is effective in the treatment of pain and physical impairment in people with severe knee osteoarthritis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Read the full article at : http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/545482/

Source: American College of Rheumatology (ACR)

TAI CHI Helps cut pain of Knee Arthritis

(Reuters; October 26, 2008) - The traditional Chinese form of exercise known as tai chi can help reduce pain and physical impairment in people who have knee arthritis, researchers said on Saturday.

In their study, one group of people in their 60s with severe knee osteoarthritis performed tai chi for an hour twice a week for 12 weeks while a similar group did the same amount of conventional stretching exercises over the same period.

Those who did Tai Chi experienced greater pain reduction, less depression and improvements in physical function and overall health, researchers led by Dr. Chenchen Wang of Tufts Medical Center in Boston reported at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in San Francisco.

(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Peter Cooney)
. . . read entire article at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE49P0VB20081026