Chinese Health Theraphy

Archive for the ‘Arthritis’ Category

A team of researchers found that the practice of the Chinese exercise for the mind and the body reduced pain and improved function and mental health of people with knee osteoarthritis.

Some of these benefits were maintained for one year after the start of the study, ie, months after people had suspended the exercises.

“The Tai Chi group had developed a general feeling of well-being, suggesting that there would be synergy between the physical and mental components of this discipline,” he wrote in Arthritis & Rheumatism Chenchen Wang’s team, School of Medicine, Tufts University in Boston.

“The results are promising because there are few long-term effective treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee,” he added.

Osteoarthritis of the knee is painful, debilitating and increasingly common as the population ages. While strength exercises are recommended for these patients, “have limited effect on pain and physical function, and no change in the psychological effects,” the team said.

Tai Chi was shown to improve strength and balance, relieve pain and reduce depression and anxiety in people with chronic diseases, but evidence on the benefits in patients with knee osteoarthritis is not conclusive.

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