近日，《新英格兰医学期刊》发表的研究报告说，美国一项研究发现打太极拳有助于降低罹患帕金森氏症的机率。
据介绍，“帕金森氏症”是一种脑部病变，造成中枢神经系统退化失调，导致患者的走路、言语及其他活动受影响。通常可通过医药及手术加以改善，而医生都建议患者多运动，或进行物理治疗。
美国俄勒冈研究协会最近针对约200名患有轻微或中度“帕金森氏症”的患者进行研究，让他们分组，分别进行包括太极拳在内的不同运动，每周做两次运动，每次60分钟。经过六个月时间，研究人员发现，打太极拳的患者平衡能力胜过做伸展运动和肌力训练的人，走路的步幅也更大。他们跌倒的频率与做肌力训练的人相同，可是比做伸展运动的人少摔跤。
负责这项研究的华裔李博士表示，太极拳简单易学，亦不需要特别装备，是一项值得推动的好运动。(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.)
