Tai Chi may help prevent shingles

Tai Chi, a popular style of Chinese Kung Fu or martial art, may help protect against shingles, a condition commonly experienced by older people in the United States, according to a new study published in print this week in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study by Michael R. Irwin, M.D. of the University of California at Los Angeles, and colleagues did not prove that Tai Chi can prevent shingles or reduce the severity of the condition, which affects millions of Americans. Instead it found that the exercise improves immunity in older adults against the virus that causes shingles.

The study was not meant to explain why Tai Chi has such a preventative effect against the virus that causes shingles, so the researchers do not know how Tai Chi increases the immunity in older people.
Shang Gao, a Chinese Kung Fu 6th Duan master who is the 2006 USA National Champion winning four Gold medals and one Silver medal, told foodconsumer.org that among other things Tai Chi helps the flow of vital energy called Qi, which is believed to be responsible for health benefits. Mr. Gao used Qi to effectively treat patients with colds, stomachache, headache, high blood pressure and other illnesses in China. Gao now runs a martial art school in St. Louis teaching a variety of Chinese Kung Fu styles including Tai Chi and Qi Gong.

Tai Chi is known to improve muscle strength, balance, energy and agility. Scientific studies have already proved that this exercise reduces anxiety, depression, bone loss, high blood pressure and chronic pain. It also improves cardiovascular fitness, physical functioning, and sleep quality. Tai Chi is recognized by the U.S. government as a behavioral intervention that people may use to improve their health.

Shingles caused by the same varicella-zoster virus that also causes chickenpox is commonly experienced by older people whose immunity declines to a degree that the dormant virus gets activated, causing unbearable nerve pain.

“One in five people who have had chickenpox will get shingles later in life, usually after age 50, and the risk increases as people get older,” says National Institute on Aging Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. “More research is needed, but this study suggests that the Tai Chi intervention tested, in combination with immunization, may enhance protection of older adults from this painful condition.”

“Dr. Irwin’s research team has demonstrated that a centuries-old behavioral intervention, Tai Chi, resulted in a level of immune response similar to that of a modern biological intervention, the varicella vaccine, and that Tai Chi boosted the positive effects of the vaccine,” says Andrew Monjan, Ph.D., chief of the NIA’s Neurobiology of Aging Branch.

Dr, Irwin and colleagues conducted the randomized, controlled clinical trial in 112 healthy adults ages 59 to 86 (average age of 70), which lasted 16 weeks. One group exercised Tai Chi while the other received 120 minutes of health education weekly. All of the participants had had chickenpox earlier in life and so were already immune to that disease. The health education intervention involved classes about a variety of health-related topics.

After the 16-week Tai Chi exercise or health education, people in both groups received a single injection of VARIVAX, the chickenpox vaccine that was approved for use in the United States in 1995. Then nine weeks later, the investigators assessed immunity and compared it to the baseline immunity, which was similar in both groups before the study intervention.

The researchers found that Tai Chi combined with aerobic activity, relaxation and meditation boosted the immune response to varicella vaccine against the chickenpox virus in older adults.

They found that Tai Chi alone increased participants’ immunity to varicella as much as the vaccine typically produces in 30- to 40-year-old adults, and then Tai Chi combined with the vaccine produced a significantly increased level of immunity, about a 40 percent increase, over that produced by the vaccine alone.

The study further showed that the Tai Chi group’s rate of increase in immunity over the course of the 25-week study was double that of the health education (control) group.

In addition to the increased immunity against shingles, the Tai Chi group reported significant improvements in physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality and mental health.

One thing shared by both groups is that the severity of depressive symptoms declined.

It remains unclear whether Tai Chi can increase the immunity in the general population as the participants were from families with high income and better social status. It is also unknown if Tai Chi would benefit people with medical conditions as the study involved only healthy individuals.

source:foodconsumer.org