Tai Chi in the news

Tai Chi May Help People With Mobility Problems

If you'd rather meditate than exercise, but know you need to add some form of physical activity to your routine, tai chi might be a good choice.

Done correctly, the different movements - or postures - which are performed in a specific, ordered routine seem to flow easily from one to the next. Tai chi emphasizes specific, proper body positions, balance and deep breathing.

Because tai chi involves slow, steady, deliberate movement, it is noted for having few side effects for practitioners. Consequently, it can be done by people at many levels of physical condition and ability...

Performing the routines can build muscle strength, increase range of motion, improve coordination and enhance relaxation. Performing the repetitive routines can build confidence in one's ability to move and to maintain balance.

The movements also can improve breathing and circulation, potentially improving overall health. In addition to improving physical health, tai chi has been credited with reducing stress, anxiety and depression, as well as enhancing one's outlook on life.

The Web site of the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability lists several benefits of tai chi, including promoting relaxation, improving lung capacity and cardiovascular and respiratory function, improving balance and posture, increasing flexibility and reducing pain.

Source: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/07/tai-chi-may-help-people-with-mobility-problems/

Tai Chi helps stave off dementia.

Brain power - use it or lose it, a new study shows.
SMH July 14, 2008

Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have found those who don't engage in complex mental activity during their lifetime have twice the shrinkage in a key part of the brain once they hit old age.

Examining more than 50 people aged 60 for three years, the university's School of Psychiatry study discovered that those who were more mentally active over their lives had a larger hippocampus - the part of the brain that relates to memory. It also showed that, in active people, the hippocampus shrinks at half the rate of those who have lower mental activity.

The findings are believed to add weight to previous studies that showed complex mental activity helps prevent dementia.

"This is a significant finding because a small hippocampus is a specific risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease," lead author Dr Michael Valenzuela said.

"It is vital that everyone is involved in cognitive, social and physical activities in late life such as dancing, tai chi, sailing, travelling and learning a new language, for example."

Dr Valenzuela and researchers from UNSW, the University of Sydney and James Cook University are now working on a clinical trial to assess whether short-term cognitive and physical exercise can reduce the severity of cognitive decline amongst at-risk older people.

This is an excerpt. See the full story at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/07/14/1215887511223.html

Half of Aussies strung out and stressed - survey
4/7/08:
A new stress survey paints a grim picture of a strung-out nation, with one in two Australians very strained by at least one aspect of life, according to the Newspoll survey of 1200 people.

Work, money and thoughts of the future are the most likely triggers of that stressed-out state, with health and relationship troubles not far behind. The survey found that 91 per cent had some level of stress, and 47 per cent admitted being extremely affected.

Dawn O'Neil from Lifeline Australia, which conducted the study, said current levels of stress were abnormally high and alarming.

"We need to look at ways we can take responsibility for our stress levels before prolonged stress causes harm to our physical and mental health."

The survey showed work and finances were the biggest stress triggers, with almost one in four people affected "a lot" by each. Thoughts of the future gave 20 per cent heightened stress levels, while health and relationships heavily affected 12 and eight per cent, respectively. Health concerns were most elevated among the elderly.

Professor Ian Hickie, executive director of the Brain & Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney, said Australians needed to urgently address the toll that stress was taking on physical and emotional wellbeing.

"Prolonged exposure to chronic, unrelenting stress is a killer," Prof Hickie said. "We just cannot function under this sort of pressure."

He called for the development of practical stress-reducing strategies that could be as simple as talking about stress and admitting when you feel it.

"We need to opt in to do things to take control, rather than opt out because we are too stressed."


Excerpt from medicalsearch.com.au -
http://www.medicalsearch.com.au/News/viewrecord.aspx?id=33160