The exercises known as Tai Chi may help people with chronic illnesses reduce their pain, improve their walking, and build strength. These findings are from a new analysis of past research.
Tai chi is a modified form of an ancient Chinese martial art and involves slow and gentle movements. It is a set of exercises that emphasizes breathing control, and is done with bent knees and slow, flowing movements. In addition to strength, it can help to improve posture, balance and concentration, the researchers note. As an exercise, it may be suitable for middle aged and older people with health conditions ranging from arthritis to cancer, according to the study, which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The study analyzed results from 33 previous studies with more than 1,500 participants that looked at the effects of Tai chi among people with four chronic conditions: cancer, heart failure, osteoarthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some of these people had additional health problems.
The researchers assessed the effect of Tai chi on how far a person could walk in six minutes, lower body muscle strength, the time a person took to go from sitting to standing, quality of life, and depression. The researchers also looked at the effects on specific symptoms of certain conditions, such as pain and stiffness in osteoarthritis and breathing problems for people with COPD.
They found that performance on the six-minute walking test improved for both heart failure and COPD patients. Tai chi also improved knee strength in one heart failure study and one COPD study. It helped to decrease depression in heart failure patients. However, other interventions such as stress management worked better than Tai chi for cancer patients. Tai chi did not improve blood pressure in heart failure patients.
For osteoarthritis patients, the time needed to stand up from a seated position, overall physical function, and general quality of life were significantly improved with Tai chi. Symptoms of pain and stiffness were also markedly reduced.