Tai Chi Helps Older Adults Avoid Shingles
Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese form of exercise, may help older adults avoid getting shingles by increasing immunity to varicella-zoster virus (VZV), according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In addition, the study shows it can boost the immune response to varicella vaccine in older adults.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded the new study that is the first rigorous clinical trial to suggest that a behavioral intervention, alone or in combination with a vaccine, can help protect older adults from VZV.
VZV causes both chickenpox and shingles.
Shingles, or herpes zoster, affects the nerves, resulting in pain and blisters in adults. Following a case of chickenpox, a person’s nerve cells can harbor the varicella-zoster virus. Years later, the virus can reactivate and lead to shingles.
Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), says, “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.”
“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,” says Dr. Hodes.
“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, says Dr. Andrew Monjan, chief of the NIA Neurobiology of Aging Branch.
"Tai Chi boosted the positive effects of the vaccine,” he notes.
The randomized, controlled clinical trial included 112 healthy adults ages 59 to 86 (average age of 70).
Each person took part in a 16-week program of either Tai Chi or a health education program that provided 120 minutes of instruction weekly.
Tai Chi combines aerobic activity, relaxation, and meditation, which the researchers note have been reported to boost immune responses.
The health education intervention involved classes about a variety of health-related topics.
After the 16-week Tai Chi and health education programs, with periodic blood tests to determine levels of VZV immunity, people in both groups received a single injection of VARIVAX®, the chickenpox vaccine that was approved for use in the US in 1995.
Nine weeks later, the investigators did blood tests to assess each participant’s level of VZV immunity, comparing it to immunity at the start of the study.
All of the participants had had chickenpox earlier in life and so were already immune to that disease.
Tai Chi alone was found to increase participants’ immunity to varicella as much as the vaccine typically produces in 30- to 40-year-old adults.
Tai Chi combined with the vaccine produced a significantly higher level of immunity, about a 40 percent increase, over that produced by the vaccine alone.
The study further shows 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.
The Tai Chi and health education groups’ VZV immunity had been similar when the study began.
In addition, the Tai Chi group reported significant improvements in physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, and mental health.
Both groups showed significant declines in the severity of depressive symptoms.
“This study builds upon preliminary research funded by [the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine] NCCAM, and we are delighted to see this rigorous trial of Tai Chi for varicella zoster immunity come to fruition,” says Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein, NCCAM acting director.
Always consult your physician for more information.
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According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), tai chi is a mind-body practice that originated in China as a martial art.
A person doing tai chi moves his body slowly and gently, while breathing deeply and meditating (tai chi is sometimes called "moving meditation").
Many practitioners believe that tai chi helps the flow throughout the body of a proposed vital energy called qi (pronounced "chee," it means "air" or "power").
In the US, tai chi for health purposes is part of complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM.
Many persons who practice tai chi do so to improve one or more aspects of their health and to stay healthy.
NCCAM states that it is not fully known what changes occur in the body during tai chi, whether they influence health, and, if so, how.
NCCAM is sponsoring studies to find out more about tai chi's effects, how it works, and diseases and conditions for which it may be most helpful.
If you are considering or using any type of CAM, talk to your health care provider about it. This is for your safety and a complete treatment plan.
Certain concepts from Chinese philosophy were important in tai chi's development. A few are as follows:
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A vital energy called qi underlies all living things.
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Qi flows in people through specific channels called meridians.
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Qi is important in health and disease.
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Tai chi is a practice that supports, unblocks, and redirects the flow of qi.
Another concept in tai chi is that the forces of yin and yang should be in balance.
In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are two principles or elements that make up the universe and everything in it and that also oppose each other.
Yin is believed to have the qualities of water - such as coolness, darkness, stillness, and inward and downward directions - and to be feminine in character.
Yang is believed to have the qualities of fire - such as heat, light, action, and upward and outward movement - and to be masculine. In this belief system, people's yin and yang need to be in balance in order for them to be healthy, and tai chi is a practice that supports this balance.
Always consult your physician for more information.
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