Science agrees that tai chi, the centuries-old martial art, promotes physical well-being, improves balance, reduces anxiety, and prevents cardiovascular disease.
These are not the only benefits of tai chi, however: a recently published study showed that tai chi practice can reduce Parkinson's symptoms in the short term.
To prove the veracity of the research, the scientists rounded up patients suffering from this very condition. Recall that Parkinson's is not a hereditary disease. The researchers focused on sporadic Parkinson's disease (the same as these patients) so that they could study the effects of Tai Chi only on the symptoms of the disease. What happened?
How were the participants selected?
The researchers excluded people with other health conditions (such as other neurodegenerative diseases) that might have prevented them from attending Tai Chi classes. The participants were then divided into two groups: a control group of 187 people who did not exercise, and a group of 143 people who completed the tai chi classes. The average age of the participants was 66 years. There was an equal number of male and female participants. All participants were in the early stages of Parkinson's disease and had been diagnosed for an average of only four years. This meant that any change in symptoms observed between the two groups could be attributed to Tai Chi.
The Experiment
Participants in the Tai Chi group received five classes over the course of the study, which began in 2016 and ended in 2018. They were also asked to practice twice a week for one hour. All participants were then followed for three years between 2019 and 2021 to monitor their symptoms. Those in the Tai Chi group had better motor function at the end of the study. The control group, on the other hand, experienced a more rapid decline in motor function, including the ability to walk and balance.
In addition, the control group took, on average, more Parkinson's medications to manage symptoms over the course of the study than did the Tai Chi group. This means either that the disease was more severe and progressed more rapidly in the control group, or that Tai Chi had a protective effect on disease progression. The beneficial effects of tai chi were also seen in non-motor symptoms: the tai chi group reported better quality of life, well-being, sleep, and benefits to memory and thinking.
The Benefits of Tai Chi
Since the medications currently used to treat and manage Parkinson's disease do not slow disease progression or prevent worsening symptoms, an affordable but effective integrative therapy such as Tai Chi could be useful for patients. However, as promising as these results are, the study had some notable limitations. The first is that the groups were not randomized. The gold standard in clinical trials is to randomize participants into groups to prevent bias from being introduced into the study.
Because the groups were not randomized, participants may have been recruited into a group based on their motivation to exercise or other lifestyle factors. Another reason why some participants were recruited to the control group was for practical reasons, such as the participant's location or work conflicts.
Exercise to keep Parkinson's disease under control
This is not the first study to show that Tai Chi may have benefits for people with Parkinson's disease. But previous studies have found benefits only in the short term, over periods of six months. This study is the first of its kind to show long-term benefits. The original article appeared in Science Alert.
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