 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Holistic News
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Both water-based exercise and the Chinese exercise system
Tai Chi can help older people with severe arthritis move and feel better, researchers from
Australia report.
Among men and women 60 and older with chronic osteoarthritis of the hip and knee, those
who participated in 12 weeks of hydrotherapy or Tai Chi experienced significant
improvements in pain and physical function scores, Marlene Fransen of The George
Institute for International Health at the University of Sydney and her colleagues found.
However, participants in the hydrotherapy group were more likely to attend sessions than
those assigned to Tai Chi. They also experienced significant improvements in
measurements of physical performance, such as ability to climb stairs and walk, which
weren't seen in the Tai Chi group.
"Hydrotherapy classes appeared to be more acceptable (higher attendance), appeared to
provide greater relief of joint pain, and resulted in larger improvements in objective
measurements of physical performance," Fransen and her team conclude in the medical
journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
The researchers randomly assigned 152 people to hydrotherapy, Tai Chi, or a waiting
group. Classes lasted an hour and were offered twice a week.
After 12 weeks, there were significant improvements on scores measuring pain and
physical function in both groups. Both groups also showed improvements in physical
performance scores, but these improvements were only significant from a statistical
standpoint in the hydrotherapy group.
At 24 weeks, all improvements had been sustained, and were greater than have been
demonstrated in studies of traditional land-based exercise for arthritis patients, the
researchers noted.
Among the hydrotherapy group, 81 percent attended 12 or more of the 24 available classes,
compared to 61 percent of those assigned to Tai Chi.
Just one of the study participants was Asian while the rest were white, which may have
made them less accepting of the Tai Chi exercises, Fransen and her colleagues say. They
also point out that Tai Chi requires participants to stand with knees bent, which can be
difficult for individuals suffering from knee pain.
SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, April 15, 2007.
Tai Chi can help older people with severe arthritis move and feel better, researchers from
Australia report.
Among men and women 60 and older with chronic osteoarthritis of the hip and knee, those
who participated in 12 weeks of hydrotherapy or Tai Chi experienced significant
improvements in pain and physical function scores, Marlene Fransen of The George
Institute for International Health at the University of Sydney and her colleagues found.
However, participants in the hydrotherapy group were more likely to attend sessions than
those assigned to Tai Chi. They also experienced significant improvements in
measurements of physical performance, such as ability to climb stairs and walk, which
weren't seen in the Tai Chi group.
"Hydrotherapy classes appeared to be more acceptable (higher attendance), appeared to
provide greater relief of joint pain, and resulted in larger improvements in objective
measurements of physical performance," Fransen and her team conclude in the medical
journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
The researchers randomly assigned 152 people to hydrotherapy, Tai Chi, or a waiting
group. Classes lasted an hour and were offered twice a week.
After 12 weeks, there were significant improvements on scores measuring pain and
physical function in both groups. Both groups also showed improvements in physical
performance scores, but these improvements were only significant from a statistical
standpoint in the hydrotherapy group.
At 24 weeks, all improvements had been sustained, and were greater than have been
demonstrated in studies of traditional land-based exercise for arthritis patients, the
researchers noted.
Among the hydrotherapy group, 81 percent attended 12 or more of the 24 available classes,
compared to 61 percent of those assigned to Tai Chi.
Just one of the study participants was Asian while the rest were white, which may have
made them less accepting of the Tai Chi exercises, Fransen and her colleagues say. They
also point out that Tai Chi requires participants to stand with knees bent, which can be
difficult for individuals suffering from knee pain.
SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, April 15, 2007.
| For More on Watsu a water-based exercise click on Episode 3. Watch a video on a Watsu Demo. |