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Tai
Chi Boosts Circulation in Elderly Men
Excerpt
By Melissa Schorr, Reuters Health
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - The Chinese conditioning exercise known
as Tai Chi Chuan may help improve the circulatory function of
its practitioners, researchers report.
As people
age, their ability to dissipate excess heat by increasing skin
blood flow declines, note Dr. Jong Shyan Wang of the department
of physical therapy at Chang Gung University in Taiwan and colleagues.
Past research has shown that exercise can help reverse this decline.
``Our results
demonstrate that Tai Chi Chuan training can decrease the rate
of decline in cutaneous microcirculatory function,'' or skin blood
flow, Wang told Reuters Health. ``It may be prescribed as a suitable
aerobic exercise for the elderly.''
The researchers
have previously published research that shows Tai Chi can increase
muscular strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity.
In this study,
the investigators recruited a group of 10 elderly men who had
been training with Tai Chi for an average of 11 years, practicing
for nearly an hour at least three times a week. These men were
compared with a group of 10 men who were similar but sedentary.
The men all
completed a bicycling exercise while researchers tested their
heart rate, oxygen consumption and blood pressure. A sample of
the men's blood was also taken before and after exercise.
The findings
were published in the September issue of the Archives of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation.
The men who
had practiced Tai Chi had significantly higher skin blood flow
and skin temperature during exercise than the sedentary group,
indicating their blood vessels were better able to process and
release the heat their bodies generated during exercise.
The men who
practiced Tai Chi also had higher levels of nitric oxide produced
in their blood following exercise, an indication that their blood
vessels were better able to respond to the increased flow of blood
during exercise.
``From the
perspective of health promotion, Tai Chi is a suitable exercise
for the elderly,'' Wang said. ``It is a low-technology approach
to conditioning that can be implemented with minimal cost and
can be promoted easily in the elderly population owing to its
slow and structured movements.''
SOURCE:
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2001;82:1176-
Reference
Source 89
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