What has Tai Chi got to do with diabetes?
Studies have shown Tai Chi to have beneficial effects on cardio-respiratory fitness; muscular strength, balance, peripheral circulation, while reducing tension and anxiety. All these factors help minimize the complications of diabetes.
Tai Chi is not the only form of exercise for people with diabetes, nor is it a treatment by itself. A healthy eating plan, adhering to medication, stress control, as well as a safe exercise routine recommended by qualified health professionals are the cornerstones of diabetes self management.
~~Etta J. Vinik, MA{Ed)
Diabetes & T'ai Chi in the News
- BBC NEWS | Health | Tai Chi 'helps improve diabetes'
- Tai Chi exercises can help people with type 2 diabetes control their condition, research suggests.
- Tai Chi Can Help Control Type 2 Diabetes
- The martial art of Tai Chi can improve Type 2 diabetes control, say researchers in Taiwan. Tai Chi combines deep diaphragmatic breathing and relaxation with gentle movement. The
- Tai chi gentle on diabetes - Health & Wellbeing
- Tai chi may help people with type 2 diabetes improve their physical and mental wellbeing, say Australian researchers.
Tai Chi Chuan may benefit type 2 diabetes patients
Thu Mar 8, 2007
The article states that after completing a 12-week Tai Chi exercise program, men and women with the disease had statistically significant reductions in their levels of A1C, a measurement of long-term blood glucose control.
It was reported that the participants also showed increases in regulatory T cells, which help to keep the immune response in check, while their levels of killer T cells, which destroy abnormal cells in the body, decreased.
Tai Chi improves balance and heart and lung function, and benefits immune system function in healthy individuals.
Dr. Kuender D. Yang of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan wanted to investigate whether Tai Chi might do the same for diabetic patients. Yang and his team had 32 men and women participate in three hour-long sessions of the martial art each week for 12 weeks.
The researchers noted Tai Chi could improve the immune system through its effects on cardiopulmonary health or the martial art might exert its effects by improving glucose metabolism.
According to the article, they conclude: "An appropriate combination of the Tai Chi Chuan exercise program with diabetic medications may improve both glucose metabolism and immunity of type 2 diabetic patients."
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, March 2007.
Tai Chi Video
Buy this video on Amazon
Tai Chi for Diabetes
Video - Physician and tai chi expert Paul Lam has created a 77-minute tai chi workout with movements specifically chosen for those with both Type I and Type II diabetes. In the seven-minute introduction, Australian medical experts explain the disease and endorse tai chi, with its gentle combination of muscle-strengthening and relaxation exercises, as ideal for diabetic patients. Then Lam and his assistants begin a program of warm-ups, stretches, and qigong movements designed to improve energy along the meridians affected by diabetes. (Lam explains meridians as part of the Chinese concept of Qi--"life energy"--and how they affect the body.) They follow with both basic and advanced dance-like movements, which have such delightful monikers as "fair lady working at the shuttle" and "waving hands in the cloud." Lam includes a separate demonstration without instruction for those who master the movements and want a fluid routine to follow. --Kimberly Heinrichs
Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 12/04/2008) 
Tai Chi for Diabetes
DVD - "Must have" help for a chronic condition. Tai Chi has long been shown to improve muscular strength, flexibility, stamina, even concentration and memory! Beyond these benefits, according to traditional Chinese medicine, enhancing Qi (vital life energy) in the appropriate meridians (energy channels) can improve diabetes. Here, Dr. Paul Lam, family physician and noted Tai Chi teacher presents a program including warm-ups, stretches and special movements targetted to enhance these meridians.
Amazon Price: (as of 12/04/2008)
Resources
- DIABETES AND TAI CHI THERAPY
- A Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology study found that blood sugar could be lowered successfully by doing QiGong exercises. 42.9 percent of patients in the study were able to take less medicine while having more staple foods. Also, a Nanjing University study found that Tai Chi exercise helped to regulate metabolic disorder of type 2 diabetes mellitus with geriatric obesity by regulating the nervous-endocrine system in the body.
- Tai Chi for Diabetes by Paul Lam, M.D.
- The Tai Chi for Diabetes program is supported by the Diabetes Australia Association.
- Taoist Tai Chi - Diabetes and Taoist Tai Chi
- Diabetes and Taoist Tai Chi
An article on Taoist Tai Chi and diabetes appeared in the Spring 2004 edition of Conquest, the national journal of Diabetes Australia.
Taoist Tai Chi and diabetes (PDF) - Tai Chi for Diabetes
- Tai Chi for Diabetes?
Slowly but surely, the benefits to health of tai chi have been
stated in a number of writings over the last few years. - TaiChi Network - Articles
- Tai Chi &Qi Gong Managing Diabetes with Relaxation and Exercise
- Diabetes Day Video
- World Diabetes Day, preventing disease.
World Diabetes Day
- World Diabetes Day
- World Diabetes Day, Preventing disease! CBS News Video. November 14th is World Diabetes Day. Dr. Stuart Weiss, an endocrinologist at NYU Medical Center, discusses ways to lower your diabetes risk and why more people suffer from the disease than ever before.
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November is Diabetes Awareness Month
If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes (having higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not yet in the range of diabetes) you are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. You can help to manage or even reverse your condition with four fairly simple lifestyle changes:
1. Get daily physical activity. Exercise improves the action of insulin, moving glucose out of the bloodstream and into tissues where it can be used for energy.
2. Maintain a healthy weight. If you are overweight, the more pounds you lose, the lower your chances of developing diabetes. Talk with your doctor about what your optimum weight should be, and how to achieve it.
3. Eat a diet low in refined carbohydrates, and incorporate fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil) into your diet.
4. Manage your health. Get regular checkups for blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and seek treatment if necessary.
Diabetes Support
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is especially important for diabetics. A strong immune system can help to ward off colds, flu and a variety of other health issues that may have more drastic health consequences for those with diabetes. Start by eating a diet designed to address diabetes; add in regular exercise and plenty of fluids; and consider taking an immune support formula.
~~Dr. Andrew Weil
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Please post your comments here!
jb46 wrote...
Really interesting Lens, I think are Lenses Complement Each Other
Posted October 17, 2007
DiabeticChick wrote...
Great lens! I started to try Tai Chi before my last heart attack, but haven't been able to get back to it since. Maybe it's time to try again :)
Posted April 27, 2007
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