A recent study by Dr. Xianglan Zhang et. al. of Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, suggests that tai chi can reduce mortality about as much as other forms of exercise, as reported by Terry Grens for Reuters Health. I stress the word “suggests” because of the correlational nature of Dr. Zhang’s study which only shows that, once such factors as age, health problems, and smoking were factored out, the group of almost 10,000 Chinese men who practiced tai chi had mortality rates similar to another group who practiced other forms of exercise, but were much lower than those study participants who did not exercise at all. This does not prove that tai chi actually increases lifespan, simply that practicing tai chi is associated with living longer.
Tai chi is a form of Chinese holistic exercise that focuses on slow, steady movements, coordinating one’s breathing with the movements. Previous research has indicated that tai chi provides physical benefits to people suffering from certain chronic health conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Zhang’s longitudinal study of over five years’ duration followed more than 61,000 Chinese living in Shanghai. One group of men, numbering about 12,000, reported exercising at least weekly but not practicing tai chi, while about 10,000 men did practice tai chi. A third group of almost 39,000 men reported not exercising at all.
Those subjects who exercised through walking or jogging were 23% and 27%, respectively, less likely to die than those who did not exercise at all, while those who practiced tai chi were about 20% less likely to die during the study.
For the results to be more robust, a large group of study participants would need to be randomly assigned to conditions: one group to a non-exercise condition, one group to a tai chi condition, and another to a condition involving some form of exercise such as walking to be engaged in for about the same length of time weekly as the tai chi group.
But despite the correlational nature of Dr. Zhang’s study, her results do support previous research findings regarding tai chi. This ancient art can improve one’s balance and flexibility while reducing stress, factors that make it a highly desirable form of exercise, especially for older adults who may find more strenuous forms of exercise too challenging.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1aImEF3 American Journal of Epidemiology, online June 27, 2013.
