Tai Chi and good Sleep lead to better Health.

 

Sleep, Stress and Inflammation

Stress, which can be caused by lack of sleep, causes  inflammation. The stress level of insomniac people can be so high that constant inflammation occurs throughout their bodies. Such chronic condition can contribute to illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, and other serious medical problems.

A recent study shows that inflammation levels can be reduced within the body through both cognitive behavioral therapy and Tai Chi practice.

The study was designed around 123 older insomniac adults. They were randomly assigned one of three different types of treatment: 

• Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, 
• Tai chi movement meditation, or 
• A sleep training seminar. 

The Study showed that : 

• Those who received cognitive behavioral therapy and practice Tai Chi experienced significant reduced levels of stress and inflammation and slept better. These benefits were maintained after 16 month. 

• Those participants unlucky enough to be assigned to sleep seminar classes, there was no benefit in lowered inflammatory rates.

Researchers concluded that behavioral modifications that reduce stress are the key to better physical health, once again illustrating the link between mind and body.

Click to read the full article

You can practice Tai Chi in Dothan every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7:30 to 8:30 AM and Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 PM

For more details, please contact Frederic Lecut 

by email at  frederic.lecut@gmail.com 

or by phone at (334) 798 1639

 

MAYO CLINIC RESEARCH URGES CORPORATIONS TO TAI CHI & MEDITATION

The implications of a study involving 13,108 employees - one of the largest of its kind, are significant for businesses and other organizations that offer wellness programs for employees or members. ... 

Many organizations offer wellness programs for employees or members. The programs can cut health care costs and boost productivity. However, many people drop out or decline to enroll.

 

Instead of expecting tired, stressed participants to run off pounds on the treadmill, Dr. Clark suggests organizations could offer them yoga, tai chi, meditation, stress management classes or sessions with a personal wellness coach that would help them reach overall wellness goals.

Mayo Clinic researchers surveyed 13,198 employees who joined a Mayo Clinic employee wellness center when it opened in 2008. Their study showed the biggest differences between stressed and non-stressed respondents were in fatigue levels after a regular night's sleep and in current quality of life. 

Full article available at :

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mayo-clinic-study-suggests-one-simple-question-regarding-stress-could-help-employers-tailor-wellness-programs-and-improve-participation-2011-09-07

Medical Studies of Tai Chi

From a very interesting and well documented article in the New York Times today

The many small studies of Tai chi have found health benefits ranging from better balance and prevention of falls to reduced blood pressure, relief of pain and improved immunity.

Dr. Chenchen Wang and colleagues at Tufts Medical Center in Boston reported in August in The New England Journal of Medicine Tai chi reduced pain and fatigue and improved the patients’ ability to move, function physically and sleep. The benefits persisted long after the 12 weeks of Tai chi sessions ended.

Documenting Tai chi’s purported health benefits is a challenge. As an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine  noted, it is virtually impossible to design an ideal study of Tai chi. There is no “fake” version that could serve as a proper control to be tested against the real thing.

And unlike evaluations of drugs, Tai chi studies cannot be double-blinded such that neither patients nor researchers know which group is receiving which treatment. Those guided by a Tai chi master would undoubtedly know who they are and could be influenced by the teacher’s enthusiasm for the practice.

Still, scientists have come to better understand and appreciate the mind-body connection, which for too long was dismissed as a placebo effect, and most doctors are now more willing to accept the possibility that stress-reducing activities can have a profound effect on health.

There is no question that Tai chi can reduce stress. Tai chi “combines meditation with slow, gentle, graceful movements, as well as deep breathing and relaxation to move vital energy (qi by the Chinese, Ki in Japanese) throughout the body.”

If nothing else, this kind of relaxing activity can lower blood pressure and heart rate, improve cardiovascular fitness and enhance mood. For example, a review in 2008 found that Tai chi lowered blood pressure in 22 of 26 published studies.

Thus, it can be a useful aid in treating heart disease, high blood pressure and depression, conditions common among older people who may be unable to benefit from more physically demanding exercise.

Regular practitioners of Tai chi report that they sleep better, feel healthier and experience less pain and stiffness, though it cannot be said for certain that Tai chi alone is responsible for such benefits.

Perhaps the best-documented benefit of Tai chi, and one that is easiest to appreciate, is its ability to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls, even in people in their 80s and 90s.

Another benefit, again especially important to older adults, is the apparent ability of tai chi to improve immune function. In a 2007 study also financed by the Complementary and Alternative Medicine center, those who practiced tai chi had a better response to the varicella zoster vaccine that can help prevent shingles.

Finally, attending a few sessions or even a 12-week course is not enough to guarantee lasting health benefits. As with any other form of exercise, tai chi must be practiced regularly and indefinitely to maintain its value.

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.

Meditation 'eases heart disease'

According to the results of a first-ever study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, FL, on Nov.16, 2009, patients with coronary heart disease who practiced Meditation had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to nonmeditating patients.

The nine-year study followed 201 African American men and women, average age 59 years, with narrowing of arteries in their hearts who were randomly assigned to either practice the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique or to participate in a control group which received health education classes in traditional risk factors, including dietary modification and exercise.

All participants continued standard medications and other usual medical care.

The study found:

• A 47 percent reduction in the combination of death, heart attacks, and strokes in the participants
• Significant reduction in blood pressure.
  
• Significant reductions in psychological stress in the high-stress subgroup

Click for details of the study