Tai Chi Effective in Managing Risk Factors for High Blood Pressure
 
August 24, 2015 - Obesity, metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, and poor quality of life are common conditions associated with hypertension, and incidence of hypertension is age dependent. Two researchers from Griffith University, Australia, performed a study to examine the effectiveness of a Tai Chi program to improve health status in participants with hypertension and its related risk factors such as dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, and quality of life in older adults in China.

A randomized study design was used. At the conclusion of the intervention, 266 patients remained in the study. Blood pressure and biomedical factors were measured according to the World Diabetes Association standard 2002. A standardized quality-of-life measure was used to measure health-related quality of life.

It was found that a Tai Chi program to improve hypertension in older adults is effective in reducing blood pressure and body mass index, maintaining normal renal function, and improving physical health of health-related quality of life. It did not improve existing metabolic syndrome levels, lipid level (dyslipidemia) or fasting glucose level (hyperglycemia), to prevent further deterioration of the biomedical risk factors.

In conclusion, Tai Chi is effective in managing a number of risk factors associated with hypertension in Chinese older adults. Future research should examine a combination of Tai Chi and nutritional intervention to further reduce the level of biomedical risks.

This study is published in the July, 2015 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.