Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese martial art involving sequences of slow controlled movements meant to cultivate one of the three kinds of vital energy, called qi, was found to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disorder in 147 seniors.
Patients who already had the debilitating disorder and who took up Tai Chi also needed lower doses of the required drugs, according to the findings published by the BMJ Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
The disease, characterized by slowness of movement, resting tremors, plus stiff and inflexible muscles, is the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world, with the number of those affected projected to reach nearly five million by 2030 in China alone, and 1.2 million in the US.
