Tai
chi voor versterking immuunsysteem en tegen herpes.*
De Westerse variant van Tai chi, dat al duizenden jaren in Oosterse landen bedreven wordt, blijkt volgens een Amerikaans onderzoek het immuunsysteem flink te versterken en daardoor ook de weerstand tegen het herpesvirus. In de studie van 112 ouderen in de leeftijd van 59 tot 86 jaar, die allen ooit waterpokken gehad hadden, kreeg de ene helft 16 weken lang, drie keer per week Tai chi en de ander helft van de deelnemers evenveel lessen in gezondheid. Na afloop bleek het immuunsysteem van de Tai chi deelnemers twee keer zo goed te zijn dan van de niet Tai chi deelnemers. De Tai chi deelnemers hadden een weerstand opgebouwd tegen het herpesvirus te vergelijken met jonge mensen die zijn ingeënt tegen het virus. Verder functioneerden de Tai chi deelnemers duidelijk veel beter zowel mentaal als fysiek.
Practicing
Tai Chi Boosts Immune System In Older Adults
Tai
chi chih, the Westernized version of the 2,000-year-old Chinese martial art
characterized by slow movement and meditation, significantly boosts the immune
systems of older adults against the virus that leads to the painful, blistery
rash known as shingles, according to a new UCLA study.
The 25-week study, which involved a group of 112 adults ranging in age from 59
to 86, showed that practicing tai chi chih alone boosted immunity to a level
comparable to having received the standard vaccine against the shingles-causing
varicella zoster virus. When tai chi chih was combined with the vaccine,
immunity reached a level normally seen in middle age. The report appears in the
April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, currently
online.
The results, said lead author Michael Irwin, the Norman Cousins Professor of
Psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA,
confirm a positive, virus-specific immune response to a behavioral intervention.
The findings demonstrate that tai chi chih can produce a clinically relevant
boost in shingles immunity and add to the benefit of the shingles vaccine in
older adults.
"These are exciting findings, because the positive results of this study
also have implications for other infectious diseases, like influenza and
pneumonia," said Irwin, who is also director of the UCLA Cousins Center for
Psychoneuroimmunology. "Since older adults often show blunted protective
responses to vaccines, this study suggests that tai chi is an approach that
might complement and augment the efficacy of other vaccines, such as
influenza."
The study divided individuals into two groups. Half took tai chi chih classes
three times a week for 16 weeks, while the other half attended health education
classes - including advice on stress management, diet and sleep habits - for the
same amount of time and did not practice tai chi chih. After 16 weeks, both
groups received a dose of the shingles vaccine Varivax. At the end of the
25-week period, the tai chi chih group achieved a level of immunity two times
greater than the health education group. The tai chi chih group also showed
significant improvements in physical functioning, vitality, mental health and
reduction of bodily pain
The research follows the success of an earlier pilot study that showed a
positive immune response from tai chi chih but did not assess its effects when
combined with the vaccine.
The varicella zoster virus is the cause of chickenpox in kids. Children who get
chickenpox generally recover, but the virus lives on in the body, remaining
dormant. As we age, Irwin said, our weakening immune systems may allow the virus
to reemerge as shingles. Approximately one-third of adults over 60 will acquire
the infection at some point.
"It can be quite painful," Irwin said, "and can result in
impairment to a person's quality of life that is comparable to people with
congestive heart failure, type II diabetes or major depression."
Tai chi chih is a nonmartial form of tai chi and comprises a standardized series
of 20 movements. It combines meditation, relaxation and components of aerobic
exercise and is easy to learn.
###
The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Aging and the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
"Augmenting Immune Responses to Varicella Zoster Virus in Older Adults:
A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Tai Chi"
Michael R. Irwin, MD, Richard Olmstead, PhD, Michael 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
Click
here to view ABSTRACT online
(April 2007)
(Opm. Zo zie je maar dat op een eenvoudige
manier werken met je lichaam en geest net zo goed voor je lichaam is als goede
voeding.)