Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Tai Chi as stroke therapy

Stroke patients who practice tai chi may improve their balance - reducing the risk of falls after as little as six weeks of training, according to the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. Researchers took 136 people who had a stroke six months or more earlier and divided them into two groups. Over 12 weeks, one group did general exercise, the other a modified version of tai chi. While the exercise group showed little improvement in balance, the tai chi group made significant gains when they were tested on weight-shifting, reaching and how well they could maintain their stability on a platform that moved like a bus. The benefit of tai chi, the researchers said, is that once the forms are mastered, they can be done without supervision.

Bonnie - I love tai chi as an exercise/stress-reducing modality. It is very encouraging to see this research.

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