Tai chi relieves osteoarthritis of the knee
Luise Heine has been an editor at since 2012. The qualified biologist studied in Regensburg and Brisbane (Australia) and gained experience as a journalist in television, in the Ratgeber-Verlag and in a print magazine. In addition to her work at , she also writes for children, for example for the Stuttgarter Kinderzeitung, and has her own breakfast blog, “Kuchen zum Frühstück”.
More posts by Luise Heine All content is checked by medical journalists.Chinese shadow boxing - this is also what Tai-Chi Chuan is called. The flowing movements not only keep imaginary opponents in check, but also joint pain. With knee osteoarthritis in particular, tai chi even has some advantages over normal physiotherapy.
At least if you practice it for three months, as was the case with the study by Chenchen Wang of Tufts Medical Center (Boston) and her colleagues. The researchers divided 204 subjects with knee osteoarthritis into two groups. Half of them did tai chi twice a week for twelve weeks. The rest received physiotherapy at the same intensity. The examination was simply blinded, which means that the doctors who analyzed the data did not know which group the participants belonged to.
Reduced quality of life
The scientists made possible changes measurable with the help of various methods. This included, for example, the WOMAC index. In a questionnaire, three aspects (pain, stiffness, physical function) are recorded with various questions and thus made comparable with each other. The researchers also asked the test subjects about their quality of life and current disease activity. In addition, the participants completed walking tests at the beginning and at the end of the study. Since osteoarthritis and depression often go hand in hand, the researchers also determined how the participants were doing in this regard.
Tai-Chi as a mood enhancer
The good news: Both tai chi and physical therapy reduced the pain in the subjects' knees. The joint function and the walking tests also showed that both methods were equally successful. However, shadow boxing was able to score additional points in two areas: On the one hand, the tai chi group reported a greater gain in quality of life, on the other hand, they suffered less from depression than the comparison group.
Study director Chenchen Wang is a staunch believer in tai chi. Its positive effect, especially for pain patients, is also proven by other studies by her, for example for the clinical picture of fibromyalgia.
Increased mobility
A Canadian meta-study comprising 21 studies on the subject also shows that tai chi promotes the health of older people in the long term. According to this, tai chi promotes muscle maintenance in this group of people and increases physical capacity. This means that test persons who regularly performed the movement patterns performed better in running tests, were able to stretch and stretch better and, last but not least, reported a higher quality of life. The authors of the study write: "Especially for people who suffer from several diseases, tai chi could be a good alternative for gentle movements."
Sources:
Wang Chenchen: Comparative Effectiveness of Tai Chi Versus Physical Therapa in Treating Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized, Single-Blinded Trial; EULAR 2015 Congress Rome
Yi-Wen Chen et al. The effect of Tai Chi on four chronic conditions — cancer, osteoarthritis, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analyzes; Br J Sports Med doi: 10.1136 / bjsports-2014-094388
Wang C et al. Assessing the comparative effectiveness of Tai Chi versus physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis: design and rationale for a randomized trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014; 14: 333. PMID: 25199526; PMCID: PMC4171546.
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