Tai Chi and Shingles Immunity
The Question:
Can Tai Chi give your immune system a boost?
The Answer:
The Tai Chi group on average showed a nearly 50% increase in an immunological marker for shingles immunity.
The Study:
Shingles Immunity and Health Functioning in the Elderly: Tai Chi Chih as a Behavioral Treatment.
36 health adults over 60 years of age were randomly allocated either to the Tai Chi group or to a waiting-list control group. Tai Chi Chih (a set of 19 movements and 1 pose) was performed for 45 minutes, 3 times a week, for 15 weeks. Immunity to the varicella-zoster virus (VZV-responder cell frequency) was measured at the start of the study and after 16 weeks.
Michael Irwin, Jennifer Pike, and Michael Oxman
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2004 December.
About Shingles:
The varicella-zoster virus causes chicken pox and shingles (herpes zoster). The virus remains dormant in the nervous system after a chickenpox infection and can be reactivated years latter as shingles. Shingles is a painful rash with blisters on the skin. Post herpectic neuralgia is a complication of shingles.
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