14 Mar Traditional Chinese Exercises Linked To Improved Cardiovascular Health
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Pei JieChen
Pei-JieChen, Ph.D.
Professor of Exercise Science,
President of Shanghai University of Sport
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study?
Dr. Pei-JieChen: Traditional Chinese exercises (such as Tai Chi, Qigong, Baduanjin) have been used for 2000 years with great contributions to human health, which are increasingly popular around the world. And traditional Chinese exercise is a low-risk, promising intervention that could be helpful for improving quality of life and depression in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).However, there appears to be no consensus agreement that traditional Chinese exercises (TCEs) could be effective for CVDs. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese exercise for patients with CVDs.
MedicalResearch: What are the main findings?
Dr. Pei-JieChen: The pooling revealed that TCEs could decrease systolic blood pressure by 9.12 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 5.12 mmHg. Patients performing traditional Chinese exercises were also found superior compared with those in the control group in terms of triglyceride, six-minute walk test, Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire results, SF-36 physical function, and Profile of Mood States depression.
MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Pei-JieChen: Our study showed that traditional Chinese exercises could provide more benefits than other exercises or no intervention for patients with cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the clinicians could recommend CVDs patients to do TCEs regularly.
MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Pei-JieChen: Although this study showed that traditional Chinese exercises could provide more benefits than other intervention for CVDs patients, extreme heterogeneity in the analyses remained unexplained, and the number of high quality papers was not large in our studies. More multi-center RCTs with large sample sizes should be conducted to assess the effects of TCEs in cardiovascular disease patients. And the long-term effectiveness of traditional Chinese exercises for patients with CVDs should also be evaluated.
MedicalResearch: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Dr. Pei-JieChen: Traditional Chinese exercise is based on the theoretical principles of traditional Chinese medicine. The integrated exercise of the mind and body, which includes stillness of mind, flow of breath, movement of body, and self-correction of posture, activates the natural self-regulatory (self-healing) ability as well as evokes a balanced release of endogenous neurohormones and a wide array of natural health recovery mechanisms.
Citation:
Traditional Chinese Exercise for Cardiovascular Diseases: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
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J Am Heart Assoc. 2016;5:e002562, originally published March 9, 2016,doi:10.1161/JAHA.115.002562
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Pei-JieChen, Ph.D. (2016). Traditional Chinese Exercises Linked To Improved Cardiovascular Health MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on March 14, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD