NEJM Audio Summary - Feb 9, 2012

Excerpted Script

"Tai Chi and Postural Stability in Patients with Parkinson's Disease"
by Fuzhong Li  from the Oregon Research Institute, Eugene.
Patients with Parkinson's disease have substantially impaired balance, leading to diminished functional ability and an increased risk of falling.
This study investigated whether a tailored tai chi program could improve postural control in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. The tai chi group performed consistently better than the resistance-training and stretching groups in maximum excursion (between-group difference in the change from baseline, 5.55 percentage points and 11.98 percentage points, respectively) and in directional control (10.45 percentage points and 11.38 percentage points, respectively). The tai chi group also performed better than the stretching group in all secondary outcomes and outperformed the resistance-training group in stride length and functional reach. Tai chi lowered the incidence of falls as compared with stretching but not as compared with resistance training. The effects of tai chi training were maintained at 3 months after the intervention. Tai chi training appears to reduce balance impairments in patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease, with additional benefits of improved functional capacity and reduced falls.

Tai Chiとは、太極拳(tàijíquán)のこと。著者によるYouTube動画もあるようです。