Tai Chi Shown to Vastly Improve Parkinson’s Symptoms

With recent remarks made by Republican Presidential nominee Rick Santorum on his stance on Stem Cell Research, people suffering from Parkinsons disease and other afflictions which can benefit from Stem Cell research have opened up Pandoras Box in their search for non-traditional methods to reduce symptoms. Recent medical studies as well as an in-depth report posted at BeWellBuzz.com have confirmed that the ancient martial art of Tai chi can significantly reduce some of the worst physical problems of Parkinson's disease.

Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWEB) March 20, 2012

Parkinson's disease is a nervous system disorder which commonly develops in humans of age 50 and above, however, many people, such as Hollywood actor Michael J. Fox have been diagnosed with this affliction much earlier in life. Parkinsons carries certain specific symptoms such as constant blinking, lack of facial expressions, shaking, loss of balance and coordination, and other irregular bodily reactions, and is caused primarily by the destruction of the nerve cells in the brain which makes dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for the transfer of pleasure and reward feelings in the center of the brain.

Medications may help control some things, like tremors, but many drugs are not as good at helping the so-called axial symptoms of Parkinson's disease, which include problems with balance and walking. It is for this reason that a recent study was completed at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore which showed significant improvements to these symptoms which have plagued Parkinsons patients for decades.

According to the study, doctors assigned 195 people with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease to one of three groups: Tai Chi classes, Exercise with Weights and a third group which completed a program of seated stretching exercises. After six months, people who had been taking tai chi were able to lean farther forward or backward without stumbling or falling compared to those who had been doing resistance training or stretching. They were also better able to smoothly direct their movements. And they were able to take longer strides than people in the other two groups.

"The results from this study are quite impressive," says Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA, a neurologist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. "It's always difficult to compare results across studies, but the magnitude of the impact that they had is larger, in some cases, than what is seen with medications in Parkinson's."

"This is a very encouraging study," says Chenchen Wang, MD, associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston who has studied the benefits of Tai Chi on Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia in the past. "Most of our previous studies have measured pain, depression, and anxiety, which are subjective measures. These results are very impressive because they used objective measurements,"

To learn more about the recent discovery and other ways that Tai Chi can improve other conditions, please visit the article posted at BeWellBuzz.com posted below.

http://www.bewellbuzz.com/wellness-buzz/tai-chi-and-parkinsons-disease

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Tai Chi Shown to Vastly Improve Parkinson’s Symptoms