Tai Chi

Showing posts with label Conditions and Diseases. Show all posts

Tai Chi Rejuvenates Immunity in Older Adults Against Shingles

According to researches, Tai Chi, a Chinese exercise that uses both mind and body, can aid in preventing the shingles virus by increasing the body’s immunity against the VZV or varicella-zoster virus. Aside from preventing it, Tai Chi can also boost the body’s response to the vaccine for old adults. VZV is the virus that is responsible for diseases like shingles and chickenpox.

Understanding Shingles

Shingles is a kind of viral infection that causes debilitating rashes that are quite painful. It appears as blisters that can be seen at the middle of the person’s back turning to one side of his chest and overwhelming the breastbone. Parts of your body like the scalp, neck and face are also affected. Shingles can be excruciatingly painful.

One way to identify the disease is to pinpoint where it all started because shingles usually originates at one side of the body. Shingles is a sort of long term “side-effect” of chickenpox. It is because after having chickenpox, the virus within the body becomes inactive. After years, it gets to be reactivated as shingles.

Shingles is not a life-threatening situation but can be severely painful and can lead to a complication in which the skin remains painful and is very sensitive to even to the softest touch. It remains at that state until all blisters are gone. This kind of condition lasts for months or worse, years.

Shingles is the common for adults over 50 that is why it is important the old people be protected from the virus or have in them the prescribed tool to fight the virus out of their lives. For those who have not been affected with the virus, but is susceptible to, better be more cautious and maintain the immune system on a healthy level.

What the public needs to know

Although vaccination can be an effective method to prevent acquiring shingles, it can only last long. But if the vaccination for shingles is combined with Tai Chi, the results are promising. Good news is, out of 5 persons who have undergone chickenpox, only one person will get shingles sometime in their 50s. Shingles will be very dangerous for older people.

Researchers and doctors said that, although more studies should be further enhanced, it is proven that Tai Chi combined with immunization was made effective as an intervention to prevent the increase of the painful condition. The positive effects of Tai Chi helped researchers determine that the height of response by the human body is incredible.

Study has it that Tai Chi alone can increase the patient’s immunity to the virus same with the outcome of ordinary vaccine. The moment Tai Chi is combined with the vaccine itself, it produced a significant result with a high level of immunity amounting to over 40%. Studies also show that compared to those that only acquired the vaccine, Tai Chi’s effects are doubled in the increase.

Aside from the increased level of immunity, Tai Chi also manifested remarkable outcome that include decrease in body pain, improved physical functioning, mental health and vitality. Groups who engaged in Tai Chi showed a decline in the symptoms of the disease’s severity.

Therefore, for those who are experiencing or knows someone who is at their golden years, it is better to advise them to engage in Tai Chi.

Tai Chi to Battle Parkinson’s Disease

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There was a study that was recently published that there was a way to possibly slow down the progress of Parkinson’s Disease through Tai Chi. Although, it doesn’t necessarily promise a one-of-a-kind treatment to the disease, basically because Parkinson’s disease is incurable, it is very effective and is recommended by neurologists after diagnosis.

Facts About Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, neurodegenerative disorder that is progressive. It is also called as “Shaking Palsy” or “Paralysis Agitans”. Primary signs and symptoms of the disease would include rigidity, tremors, poor balance, bradykinesia or slow movement, and difficulty in gaiting. Parkinson’s, in general, has no traced cause, in other words, unknown. Some says that it is caused by trauma or genetic factor but aside from that, there is still no known basis.

What happens in Parkinson’s is that there is a certain degeneration of the dopamine receptors inside the brain. These nerve cells, which are responsible for producing dopamine, are affected thus resulting to the minimal or probably no production of dopamine. Dopamine is the one that sends signals to the muscles for proper movement and coordination. Without enough amount of dopamine inside the body, there will be no proper coordination of the different muscles in the body thus, different symptoms occur.

Because Parkinson’s is a disease that can only be prevented, it will prevalent that, as the disease progresses, the person may experience trouble in talking, walking, and doing tasks that are simple. They may also have emotional problems like depression, anxiety, etc. Sleeping problems may also occur. These are some of the signs that the person’s situation is getting worse.

One of the widely known risk factor of Parkinson’s is old age. It begins at an age on or before the age of 60. Parkinson’s is also a disease that is more common in men but there are also few incidences in women. It is also said that Parkinson’s is hereditary.

Bad news is, since Parkinson’s is a disease that affects the neurons of the brain, and neurons are cells that don’t regenerate, there is no cure for the disease itself. Good new is, medicines can help lessen dramatic effects of the disease’s symptoms.

Tai Chi and Parkinson’s

Although Parkinson’s disease is degenerative, it is surprisingly a slow progressive event in the life of old people. And because it will take years before the disease can overcome a person’s entire system, there are several interventions that may help slow the progress of Parkinson’s. That is why, Tai Chi can be very effective in slowing it even more.

With Tai Chi’s elaborate movements in which 95% in the body works in connection with every system, it can enhance a person’s well-being who is suffering from the disease. Tai Chi’s movements can reduce a patient’s gradual lose of coordination. It is said that Tai Chi is far more effective than any kind of sport or exercise that most medical experts suggest in battling Parkinson’s.

Obviously, Tai Chi can be a very good reason to regain coordination and balance. Major universities have indicated that Tai Chi is twice as effective as other balance enhancing exercises in reducing falls. Upon the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s, it is a must to be informed with the major benefits of Tai Chi.

It is effective enough to save the balance of someone before it gets wobbly or physically gets lost.

Tai Chi As a Cancer Treatment

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Tai chi is an ancient Chinese martial art. Tai chi is a mind-body, self-healing system that uses mild exercise, meditation, and breathing to improve health and overall well-being. Tai chi has been in practice for many centuries, and now even modern Western medicine agrees that tai chi is an excellent form of exercise that can improve posture, balance, muscle mass and tone, flexibility, stamina, and strength in young adults as well as in older adults.

Tai chi is not a cure for cancer. Tai chi is a complimentary therapy that is often recommended for people who are undergoing conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It is important for people who are going through cancer treatments to remain as active as possible. The gentle movements and deep-breathing exercises of tai chi can reduce stress. Reducing stress can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of many heart problems.

Those who promote the use of tai chi say that it helps to balance qi or chi - the vital energy or life force of the body. Balanced qi is said to prevent illness, improve health, and extend life expectancy. Tai chi also is based on the ancient theory of yin and yang and those who promote the use of tai chi for cancer patients say that balancing yin and yang helps patients to achieve inner harmony.

Researchers agree that tai chi can reduce stress and provide the same cardiovascular benefits as moderate exercise like a slower heart rate and lower blood pressure.

Because the physical movements of tai chi are so slow and gentle, it is considered to be the safest form of exercise for older people as well as people who are undergoing rigorous treatments for cancer as well as for many other human ailments like arthritis, osteoporosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and peripheral artery disease.

Milos Pesic is a respected surgeon who specializes in treating all forms of cancer and runs a comprehensive Cancer Treatment web site. For more articles and resources on cancer symptoms and treatments, breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, prostate and colon cancer and much more, visit his site at:

=> http://cancer.need-to-know.net/

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