近日，《新英格蘭醫(yī)學(xué)期刊》發(fā)表的研究報告說,，美國一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)打太極拳有助于降低罹患帕金森氏癥的機率,。
據(jù)介紹，“帕金森氏癥”是一種腦部病變,，造成中樞神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)退化失調(diào),，導(dǎo)致患者的走路、言語及其他活動受影響,。通?？赏ㄟ^醫(yī)藥及手術(shù)加以改善,，而醫(yī)生都建議患者多運動，或進行物理治療,。
美國俄勒岡研究協(xié)會最近針對約200名患有輕微或中度“帕金森氏癥”的患者進行研究,，讓他們分組，分別進行包括太極拳在內(nèi)的不同運動,，每周做兩次運動,，每次60分鐘。經(jīng)過六個月時間,，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),，打太極拳的患者平衡能力勝過做伸展運動和肌力訓(xùn)練的人，走路的步幅也更大,。他們跌倒的頻率與做肌力訓(xùn)練的人相同,，可是比做伸展運動的人少摔跤。
負責(zé)這項研究的華裔李博士表示,，太極拳簡單易學(xué),，亦不需要特別裝備，是一項值得推動的好運動,。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1107911
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Tai Chi and Postural Stability in Patients with Parkinson's Disease
Fuzhong Li, Ph.D., Peter Harmer, Ph.D., M.P.H., Kathleen Fitzgerald, M.D., Elizabeth Eckstrom, M.D., M.P.H., Ronald Stock, M.D., Johnny Galver, P.T., Gianni Maddalozzo, Ph.D., and Sara S. Batya, M.D.
Background
Patients with Parkinson's disease have substantially impaired balance, leading to diminished functional ability and an increased risk of falling. Although exercise is routinely encouraged by health care providers, few programs have been proven effective.
Methods
We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to determine whether a tailored tai chi program could improve postural control in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. We randomly assigned 195 patients with stage 1 to 4 disease on the Hoehn and Yahr staging scale (which ranges from 1 to 5, with higher stages indicating more severe disease) to one of three groups: tai chi, resistance training, or stretching. The patients participated in 60-minute exercise sessions twice weekly for 24 weeks. The primary outcomes were changes from baseline in the limits-of-stability test (maximum excursion and directional control; range, 0 to 100%). Secondary outcomes included measures of gait and strength, scores on functional-reach and timed up-and-go tests, motor scores on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, and number of falls.
Results
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; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12 to 9.97; and 11.98 percentage points; 95% CI, 7.21 to 16.74, respectively) and in directional control (10.45 percentage points; 95% CI, 3.89 to 17.00; and 11.38 percentage points; 95% CI, 5.50 to 17.27, 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. No serious adverse events were observed.
Conclusions
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. (Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00611481.)
