Tai Chi Improves Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
Tai Chi Improves Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
Study: Tai Chi Leads to Smoother, Steadier Movements, Longer Strides, and Fewer Falls Compared to Other Types of Exercise
Feb. 8, 2012 -- Tai chi, a type of exercise that guides the body through gentle, flowing poses, may help some of the worst physical problems of Parkinson’s disease, a new study shows.
If further studies confirm the findings, experts say it appears that tai chi might be an effective therapy for improving a person’s ability to walk, move steadily, and balance. Tai chi may also reduce the chances of a fall.
“The results from this study are quite impressive,” says Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA, a neurologist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
“It’s always difficult to compare results across studies, but the magnitude of the impact that they had is larger, in some cases, than what is seen with medications in Parkinson’s,” says Dorsey, who also directs the Movement Disorders Center and Neurology Telemedicine at Johns Hopkins. He was not involved in the research.
Parkinson’s disease involves the slow destruction of brain cells that make a chemical called dopamine. Nerve cells depend on dopamine to send messages that guide muscle movement. As the cells die, movements may become shaky, stiff, and unbalanced. Walking may be harder. It may also be tougher to start a movement or keep going.
Medications may help control some things, like tremors, but many drugs are not as good at helping the so-called axial symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which include problems with balance and walking.
For the study, doctors assigned 195 people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease to one of three groups: The first took tai chi classes, the second exercised with weights, and the third was assigned to a program of seated stretching. All the groups met for 60-minute sessions twice each week.
After six months, people who had been taking tai chi were able to lean farther forward or backward without stumbling or falling compared to those who had been doing resistance training or stretching. They were also better able to smoothly direct their movements. And they were able to take longer strides than people in the other two groups.
Tai Chi Improves Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
Study: Tai Chi Leads to Smoother, Steadier Movements, Longer Strides, and Fewer Falls Compared to Other Types of Exercise
Feb. 8, 2012 -- Tai chi, a type of exercise that guides the body through gentle, flowing poses, may help some of the worst physical problems of Parkinson’s disease, a new study shows.
If further studies confirm the findings, experts say it appears that tai chi might be an effective therapy for improving a person’s ability to walk, move steadily, and balance. Tai chi may also reduce the chances of a fall.
“The results from this study are quite impressive,” says Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA, a neurologist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.
“It’s always difficult to compare results across studies, but the magnitude of the impact that they had is larger, in some cases, than what is seen with medications in Parkinson’s,” says Dorsey, who also directs the Movement Disorders Center and Neurology Telemedicine at Johns Hopkins. He was not involved in the research.
Parkinson’s disease involves the slow destruction of brain cells that make a chemical called dopamine. Nerve cells depend on dopamine to send messages that guide muscle movement. As the cells die, movements may become shaky, stiff, and unbalanced. Walking may be harder. It may also be tougher to start a movement or keep going.
Medications may help control some things, like tremors, but many drugs are not as good at helping the so-called axial symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which include problems with balance and walking.
Tai Chi Comes Out Tops
For the study, doctors assigned 195 people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease to one of three groups: The first took tai chi classes, the second exercised with weights, and the third was assigned to a program of seated stretching. All the groups met for 60-minute sessions twice each week.
After six months, people who had been taking tai chi were able to lean farther forward or backward without stumbling or falling compared to those who had been doing resistance training or stretching. They were also better able to smoothly direct their movements. And they were able to take longer strides than people in the other two groups.
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