Tai
Chi Helps Older Adults Avoid Shingles
Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese form of exercise, may help
older adults avoid getting shingles by increasing immunity to varicella-zoster
virus (VZV), according to a study in the Journal of
the American Geriatrics Society.
In addition, the study shows it can boost the immune response
to varicella vaccine in older adults.
The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) funded the new study that is the first rigorous clinical trial
to suggest that a behavioral intervention, alone or in combination with a
vaccine, can help protect older adults from VZV.
VZV causes both chickenpox and shingles.
Shingles, or herpes
zoster, affects the nerves, resulting in pain and blisters in adults. Following
a case of chickenpox, a person’s
nerve cells can harbor the varicella-zoster virus. Years later, the virus can
reactivate and lead to shingles.
Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National
Institute on Aging (NIA), says, “One in five people who have
had chickenpox will get shingles later in life, usually after age 50, and
the risk increases as people get older.”
“More research is needed, but this study suggests
that the Tai Chi intervention tested, in combination with immunization, may
enhance protection of older adults from this painful condition,” says
Dr. Hodes.
“Dr. Irwin’s
research team has demonstrated that a centuries-old behavioral intervention,
Tai Chi, resulted in a level
of immune response similar to that of a modern biological intervention, the
varicella vaccine, says Dr. Andrew Monjan, chief of the NIA Neurobiology
of Aging Branch.
"Tai Chi boosted the positive effects of the vaccine,” he
notes.
The randomized, controlled clinical trial included 112 healthy
adults ages 59 to 86 (average age of 70).
Each person took part in a 16-week program of either Tai
Chi or a health education program that provided 120 minutes of instruction
weekly.
Tai Chi combines aerobic activity, relaxation, and meditation,
which the researchers note have been reported to boost immune responses.
The health education intervention involved classes about
a variety of health-related topics.
After the 16-week
Tai Chi and health education programs, with periodic blood tests to determine
levels of VZV immunity, people in both
groups received a single injection of VARIVAX®, the chickenpox vaccine
that was approved for use in the US in 1995.
Nine weeks later,
the investigators did blood tests to assess each participant’s level
of VZV immunity, comparing it to immunity at the start of the study.
All of the participants had had chickenpox earlier in life
and so were already immune to that disease.
Tai Chi alone
was found to increase participants’ immunity
to varicella as much as the vaccine typically produces in 30- to 40-year-old
adults.
Tai Chi combined with the vaccine produced a significantly
higher level of immunity, about a 40 percent increase, over that produced by
the vaccine alone.
The study further
shows that the Tai Chi group’s rate
of increase in immunity over the course of the 25-week study was double that
of the health education (control) group.
The Tai Chi and
health education groups’ VZV immunity
had been similar when the study began.
In addition, the Tai Chi group reported significant improvements
in physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, and mental health.
Both groups showed significant declines in the severity
of depressive symptoms.
“This study
builds upon preliminary research funded by [the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine] NCCAM, and we are delighted
to see this rigorous trial of Tai Chi for varicella zoster immunity come to
fruition,” says Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein, NCCAM acting
director.
Always consult your physician for more information.
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