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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

Tai chi and falls

Categories: Tai chi, Geriatric

A number of studies have suggested that practising Tai Chi can improve balance and stability in healthy older people and reduce the rate of falling. A new study conducted in a park in Nanjing in China suggests that this benefit may extend to less robust seniors with poor balance. After eight weeks of daily tai chi (one hour per day), participants improved more than controls in the Falls Efficacy S ...

PROSTATE CANCER & LIFESTYLE CHANGE

Categories: Tai chi

Rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels after surgery or radiotherapy for prostate cancer is an indicator of recurrent cancer. Hormonal therapy at this stage can probably only extend survival time slightly and has significant side effects. A study of a small group of men with recurrent prostate cancer was conducted to see if a change to a plant-based diet (increased whole grains, cruciferous ...

TAI CHI

Categories: Tai chi

A study of 39 Chinese adults (average age 65.7 years), all of whom had at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor, found that three one-hour tai chi classes a week for 12 weeks resulted in significant improvements in balance, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility. (Improvement in balance, strength and flexibility after 12 weeks of tai chi exercise in ethnic Chinese adults with cardiova ...

TAI CHI VERSUS BALANCE TRAINING

Categories: Tai chi

Another study has found that Combined Balance and Stepping Training (CBST), which involves increasing step length and speed, is modestly more effective at improving balance and mobility than tai chi training. Eight-one older adults (65 years +) in the CBST group and 81 in the (Yang style short form) tai chi group trained for three one-hour sessions a week for ten weeks. (Dynamic Balance and Steppi ...

Tai chi and fitness

Categories: Tai chi, Geriatric

A small study has compared the benefits of short form tai chi against either brisk walking or sedentary controls in elderly women. Nineteen women were randomly assigned to one of the two exercise groups who met for one hour on three days a week for 12 weeks. A further group of eight women acted as the sedentary controls. A range of outcomes was measured. The tai chi was found to be an effective wa ...

TAI CHI DECREASES SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS ACTIVITY

Categories: Tai chi

Performance of tai chi leads to a decrease in activity of the sympathetic nervous system, to levels that are not achieved by performing comparable physical activity alone. Participants had completed the above 25-week randomised trial of Tai Chi Chih (TCC), vs health education (HE). TCC practitioners performed TCC for 20 minutes, while HE participants passively rested for the same time. Investigato ...

Tai chi as good as vaccine against shingles

Categories: Immunity, Tai chi

Tai chi therapy can boost the immune system of patients with shingles to levels comparable to those achieved using a vaccine against varicella zoster virus (VZV, the virus which causes chickenpox and shingles). A controlled trial randomised 112 healthy adults aged 59 to 86, who had a history of varicella infection, to Tai Chi Chih (TCC, a simplified, standardised form of tai chi) or health educati ...

TAI CHI IMPROVES DIABETIC HEALTH

Categories: Tai chi

Practising tai chi may help boost immune function and improve blood sugar control in people with type-2 diabetes. Thirty-two people participated in three hour-long tai chi sessions each week, for a period of 12 weeks. Investigators found statistically significant reductions in levels of glycosylated haemoglobin (A1C) in the blood of participants, indicating improved long-term blood glucose control ...

TAI CHI AND HYDROTHERAPY FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Tai chi

A randomised controlled trial has investigated whether tai chi or hydrotherapy classes provide measurable clinical benefits to those suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee. The Australian study enrolled 152 adults, aged 60 and older, who had chronic symptomatic hip or knee OA. Participants were randomly allocated to 12 weeks of hydrotherapy, tai chi classes, or a waiting list contro ...

Tai chi enhances flu shot

Categories: Tai chi

Researchers in the USA have found that a combination of tai chi and qigong (TQ) can enhance older adults' immune responses to the flu vaccine. A group of 50 adults in their 70s, were randomised TQ or no exercise. The TQ group attended three one-hour classes per week, consisting of tai chi and qigong movements along with standing and seated meditation. All participants received a flu vaccination at ...

TAI CHI AS GOOD AS BRISK WALKING

Categories: Tai chi

Tai chi is as effective as a brisk walk in raising heart rate variability (HRV). A Korean crossover study recruited 24 volunteers between 24 and 35 years. Subjects either walked on a treadmill at six kilometres an hour (just under three miles per hour) or performed tai chi for 20 minutes daily, for a week. Mean heart rate was found to be similar for both forms of exercise and the HRV was also comp ...

TAI CHI FOR BALANCE

Categories: Tai chi

Two more studies have confirmed the value of tai chi for improving balance in the elderly. The first looked at the effects of an 18-week tai chi training in 25 men (intervention group), compared to 24 controls (aged 60 to 82.1 years) all of whom had osteoporosis or osteopaenia. There was a significant improvement in 'balance task performance' in the intervention group, with no significant improvem ...

HOW DOES TAI CHI IMPROVE BALANCE?

Categories: Tai chi

The mechanisms by which tai chi can improve balance were investigated in a randomised controlled trial of 49 healthy older adults. The investigators found that that a widening of stance and improved use of vestibular input (sensory information from the inner ear which informs us how the body is moving in relationship to space and gravity) are two mechanisms by which tai chi may improve balance. (E ...

TAI CHI IMPROVES BALANCE AND PREVENTS FALLS.

Categories: Tai chi

A large Australian study of 702 healthy people (mean age 69) has concluded that a 16-week programme of tai chi classes improved their balance and reduced the incidence of falls. (A randomized, controlled trial of tai chi for the prevention of falls: the Central Sydney tai chi trial. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007 Aug;55(8):1185-91).

TAI CHI FOR HEART FAILURE

Categories: Tai chi

Tai chi can enhance sleep stability in patients with chronic heart failure. Researchers analysed 24-hour continuous ECG data obtained in a clinical trial of tai chi in 18 patients with heart failure. At 12 weeks, those who participated in tai chi showed a significant increase in EEG parameters that indicated improved sleep stability. These improvements were correlated with better disease-specific ...

Tai chi for stress reduction

Categories: Tai chi

A prospective longitudinal pilot study of tai chi for young adults, carried out over 18 weeks, found that their subjective health increased. Stress, measured both subjectively (by questionnaire) and objectively (by measurement of salivary cortisol levels) was also found to decrease during tai chi practice. (Mind/body techniques for physiological and psychological stress reduction: Stress managemen ...

TAI CHI FOR DIABETES

Categories: Tai chi

Tai chi can improve blood markers of type 2 diabetes. A British case-control study examined the effect of a 12-week programme of tai chi on the T helper cell activity of 30 patients with type 2 diabetes and 30 healthy people of the same age. After 12-weeks, glycated haemoglobin (produced when excess blood sugar combines with the oxygen transported in red blood cells) levels fell significantly in t ...

TAI CHI FOR CHILDREN'S ASTHMA

Categories: Tai chi

Tai chi can improve the pulmonary function of asthmatic children. Thirty asthmatic children were randomised either to a 12-week tai chi programme (TC) or no treatment. Baseline pulmonary function was assessed at rest, after exercise, and after exercise plus drinking iced water (which can induce an asthma attack). After the 12-week program, TC children had a significant improvement in pulmonary fun ...

Tai chi improves sense of touch

Categories: Tai chi

It appears that although tai chi (TC) does not directly engage in tactile stimulus training, it is capable of eliciting enhanced tactile acuity in long-term practitioners. Experienced adult TC practitioners were recruited and compared with age-gender matched controls. A blinded assessor used a validated method to compare TC practitioners' and controls' ability to discriminate between two different ...

TAI CHI REDUCES FALLS

Categories: Tai chi

A systematic review of seven randomised controlled trials has concluded that has shown that tai chi has the potential to reduce falls or risk of falls among the elderly, provided that they are relatively young and non-frail. (A systematic review of the effectiveness of Tai Chi on fall reduction among the elderly. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2008 Apr 15. [Epub ahead of print]).