Tai Chi May Protect From Shingles

April 9, 2007

Shingles, a painful skin condition, may be prevented if you perform

Tai-Chi, an ancient Chinese martial art, say researchers from the

University of California, Los Angeles. Tai Chi is commonly used in

many parts of the world as a low-impact exercise for older people.

You can read about this new study in the Journal of the American

Geriatrics Society, April issue.

In this new study, researchers found that elderly people who

performed Tai Chi enjoyed better immune responses against the

shingles-causing virus, compared to people who just received health

education.

Shingles affects about one million people in the USA alone - it most

commonly affects people over the age of 50.

112 healthy volunteers, aged 59-86, were involved in this study. All

participants had had chickenpox. Half of them had three Tai Chi

classes each week for 12 weeks, while the other half had health

education classes (but no Tai Chi lessons). They all had blood tests

before and after their vaccinations.

Six months later, the researchers found that those who had received

the Tai Chi lessons had almost twice the immunity levels against

shingles, compared to the other group. In fact, the researchers

found that the Tai Chi group managed to develop a level of immunity

similar to what younger people would have after the vaccination.

" Augmenting Immune Responses to Varicella Zoster Virus in Older

Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Tai Chi "

R. Irwin, MD, Olmstead, PhD, N. Oxman, MD

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Volume 55 Issue 4 Page 511 - April 2007 - doi:10.1111/j.1532-

5415.2007.01109.x

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