Although it is known in China that Tai Chi has certain benefits for people with diabetes, searching for articles about the topic online is quite hard to come by. Tai Chi practitioners believe they have the ability boost microcirculation and that Tai Chi is an extremely effective technique to manage stress. Furthermore, it burns very gently a considerable amount of calories and has been proven to actually aid the body to attain levels of chemical homeostasis. A Tai Chi study dealing with sex hormones, for example, was shown to create a “balancing effect” on the chemistry of the hormones of the test subjects, reducing the high levels of abnormal estrogen in older men, while increasing low levels of abnormal estrogen in older women.
Other studies have also yielded the same outcomes that led me to assume that significant research has probably done on the benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi’s for people suffering from diabetes, proven that at least these outcomes initially indicate Qigong and Tai Chi may present much to a person with diabetes. But from Western medical studies, there doesn’t appear much out there in terms of qigong and tai chi as a complement therapy for diabetes.
However, there are two Chinese medical establishment researches had extremely thrilling results. A study conducted by the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology discovered that blood sugar can be successfully reduced by performing Qi Gong exercises. In the study, almost 43 percent of the participants were able to take reduce their medication intake while consuming more staple foods. Another study by the Nanjing University showed that metabolic condition of type II diabetes mellitus with geriatric obesity could be regulated by Tai Chi exercise through the stabilization of the endocrine¬-nervous system of the body. The question is why is there very little Western medicine research done on this?
Regrettably, less that 0.5 percent of funding from NIH goes to study all complementary or alternative health modalities. This implies that this very small slice of NIH budget pie is all shared by homeopathy, herbal medicine, meditation, yoga, etc. A lot of the benefits sufferers of various diseases have gained from Qigong and Tai Chi will not benefit the millions of others with such conditions until the NIH allocates adequate funding/attention for Qigong and Tai Chi research. Until adequate research is conducted, doctors will not have the necessary knowledge to provide their patients with enough information about Qigong and Tai Chi as potential viable treatment options.
Nonetheless, you can request your physician to do a bit of research on this for you. In the meantime, let’s look at recommendations for diabetes therapy that are currently available, and then systematically compare the benefits of Tai Chi benefits to determine if it can be a viable therapeutic complement for diabetes. It is important to note that you should not treat yourself. This article meant to encourage a dialogue between your doctor and you which hopefully can sway him to campaign on your behalf to get very effective natural health modalities such as Tai Chi fully studied so that you have the utmost potential choices for your health plan.
Exercise, diet and the achievement of the appropriate body weight are the key components of any therapeutic plan for type 2 diabetes. Tai Chi has been shown to be an ideal exercise that besides have benefits to the cardiovascular system (approximately similar to moderate impact aerobics), also can help burn a significant amount of calories more than the burning of calories from surfing, and downhill skiing. To people with diabetes, gentle exercise as Tai Chi may be important to attain such cardiovascular benefits and caloric burning benefits.
According to Top5plus5.com, an internet health site, the form of exercise a patient performs is essential to his well being. The site states “People suffering from active diabetic retinopathy are not advised to do exercises involving heavy lifting or straining since these exertions can bring about eye damage. They need to realize that nerve damage due to high levels of blood sugar levels can result in sensation loss in the feet, with a consequential elevated likelihood of ulceration and blistering. People suffering from increasing heart damage due to high blood sugar need to be aware about the danger of sudden heart failure and death. Tai Chi may be promising for the health of the heart with is extremely important to diabetes sufferers. The BBC News 2004, October 9 reported that Tai Chi is able to treat heart failure. The study, according to the British Heart Foundation, was “very good news” and in the UK, Tai Chi can be integrated into treatment programmes in the future.”
We need to repeat once more that you should never treat yourself and all potential treatments should be considered in conjunction with your doctor. Talking about Qi Gong and Tai Chi with your doctor will hopefully result in a more reasonable allocation funding of medical research towards other natural health therapies such as Qigong and Tai. It is with sincere hope that medical researchers will study Qigong and Tai Chi with an effort desire to discover “why it helps a lot of people” rather than following a sinister ulterior motive to prove that it doesn’t work. It’s also is just as important the way studies are conducted as the studies are done.
It is for the benefit of doctors and their patients to find for themselves what Qigong and Tai Chi health techniques have to offer as these two therapies are more and more offered by medical universities to would be doctors and nurses. The prospect of healthcare need not be a war between conventional allopathic therapies and alternative therapies, but a growth of conventional therapies to cover whatever works best for the patient. A lot of people in the medical profession are great supporters of such a vision.
Amy-SuiQun Lui, L.Ac.
Asian Health Center
27059 Grand Army of the Republic Hwy
Cleveland, OH 44143
Tel: (440) 833-0983
https://www.clevelandacupunctureclinic.com/
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