Patients with Chronic Heart Failure Discover New
Quality of Life with Tai Chi Exercise
Those with chronic systolic heart failure have
been historically considered too frail to exercise - see link to video
in caption about founder
March 25, 2011 - Tai chi
exercise, long popular with senior citizens, appears to offer
improved quality of life, better mood and the ability to exercise
effectively in patients with chronic heart failure, according to a
report in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of
the JAMA/Archives journals.
"Historically, patients with
chronic systolic heart failure were considered too frail to exercise
and, through the late 1980s, avoidance of physical activity was a
standard recommendation," the authors write as background information in
the study.
June
27, 2005 – A new study confirms what has been reported by other researchers
since 1996 – Tai Chi, a martial arts form that enhances balance and body
awareness through slow, graceful and precise body movements, can improve
balance, build strength and reduce the risk of falls in the elderly.
The
low-impact
Chinese
exercise,
Tai
Chi,
can
help
older
people
regain
some
of
the
physical
functioning
that
they
may
have
lost
to
inactivity,
according
to
a
new
study.
click
to
story
5/2/2001
"Preliminary evidence suggests
that meditative exercise may have benefits for patients with chronic
systolic heart failure; this has not been rigorously tested in a large
clinical sample."
Gloria Y. Yeh, M.D., M.P.H.,
of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School,
Boston, and colleagues evaluated 100 outpatients with systolic heart
failure who were recruited between May 1, 2005 and September 30, 2008.
Fifty patients were randomized to a 12-week tai chi-based exercise
intervention group, and 50 were randomized to a time-matched education
group.
Tai Chi Chih developed
in 1974 by Justin Stone, who discusses it in this YouTube video
- click
The tai chi intervention group
consisted of one-hour group classes held twice weekly for 12 weeks. The
education sessions were also held twice weekly for the same duration as
the tai chi lessons, and were led by a nurse practitioner. The two
groups were generally similar in demographics, clinical classification
of heart disease severity, and rates of comorbidities (multiple
illnesses).
At completion of the study,
there were no significant differences in change in six-minute walk
distance and peak oxygen uptake when comparing the tai chi and control
groups. However, patients in the tai chi group had greater improvements
in quality of life.
The tai chi group also showed
improvements in exercise self-efficacy (confidence to perform certain
exercise-related activities), with increased daily activity, and related
feelings of well-being compared with the education group.
"In conclusion, tai chi
exercise, a multi-component mind-body training modality that is safe and
has good rates of adherence, may provide value in improving daily
exercise, quality of life, self-efficacy and mood in frail,
deconditioned patients with systolic heart failure," the authors write.
"A more restricted focus on
traditional measured exercise capacity may underestimate the potential
benefits of integrated interventions such as tai chi."
The study was supported by an
award from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine and, in part, by a grant from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center General Clinical Research Center from the National Institutes of
Health.
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