Tai chi benefits people with osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and osteoporosis says review of evidence

Abundant evidence exists about the health benefits of Tai chi, reveals a review in Canadian Family Physician.

Experts looked at 500 trials and 120 reviews and found excellent evidence in terms of preventing falls and osteoarthritis. Good evidence was found for depression, and fair evidence of benefit for improving quality of life for people with fibromyalgia and osteoporosis.

But current evidence indicates no direct benefit for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

As for general health and fitness, there is excellent evidence that Tai chi benefits improved balance and aerobic capacity in people with poor fitness. There is good evidence for increased strength in the lower limbs and fair evidence for increased wellbeing and improved sleep.

There were no studies that found Tai chi worsened a condition.

“Based on this, physicians can now offer evidence-based recommendations to their patients, noting that tai chi is still an area of active research, and patients should continue to receive medical follow-up for any clinical conditions,” the research group concludes.

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