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30.10.2023

Tai Chi slows down the progression of Parkinson's disease

If studies are to be believed, Tai Chi has beneficial effects on hormones, the immune system and the quality of sleep. Impressive, but the beneficial effects of Tai Chi don't stop there, suggests a Chinese study in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. Neurologists from Shanghai Jiao Tong University discovered that Tai Chi slows the progression of Parkinson's disease.

Study
Between 2016-2018, the researchers recruited a group of several hundred physically inactive subjects diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Some of the test subjects received standard treatment [Control], some not only received standard treatment but also practiced Tai Chi twice a week. Each session lasted 60 minutes.

The researchers followed the subjects until 2022. The Chinese followed the average study participants for just over 4 years. During this period, the researchers measured the progression of the disease every year.

Results
The disease progressed less rapidly in the subjects in the Tai Chi group than in the control group. The first figure below tells us this. UPDRS = Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale.

In the control group, the dose of levedopa [LEDD] that the subjects needed according to their doctors increased, but this did not happen in the experimental group. You can see this in the second figure.

During the first few years, Tai Chi reduced the chance that the test subjects would need more medical attention. The group in which the disease apparently remained stable was in any case larger among the Tai Chi subjects than among the subjects in the control group. By the final year of the study, this positive effect had disappeared.

Mechanism
In a previously published study, the neurologists reported that Tai Chi decreases the concentration of IL-1-beta, IL-5, IL-7, IL-9, IL-13, MCP-1, MIP-1-alpha, and GM-CSF in the blood. They suspect that this decrease in the production of inflammatory factors explains how Tai-Chi slows the progression of Parkinson's disease.

Conclusion
"Tai Chi could be applied in the long-term management of Parkinson's Disease," the researchers write.

"The long-term beneficial effect on Parkinson's Disease could prolong the time during which patients are non-disabled, resulting in a higher quality of life, a lower caregiver burden and less drug usage."

Source:
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2023 Oct 24:jnnp-2022-330967.

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