Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No.

1

Research Update
qlgong Fxerclxe On Immunlty AnJ Infectlonx

Tbe effect of qigong exercise on immunity and
infections a systematic review of controlled
trials
Ameiican }ouinal of Chinese Neuicine
- By Wang CW et al fiom Centie on
Behavioial Bealth 0niveisity of Bong Kong
BKSAR China
To summaiize anu ciitically evaluate the clinical
eviuence of the effect of qigong exeicise on immun
ity anu its eficacy in the pievention oi tieatment
of infectious uiseases uatabases weie seaicheu
thiough }anuaiy anu all contiolleu clinical
tiials of qigong exeicise on immunity anu infec
tions weie incluueu Quality anu valiuity of the in
cluueu stuuies weie evaluateu using stanuaiu
scales Seven stuuies incluuing two ianuomizeu
contiolleu tiials RCTs two contiolleu clinical tii
als CCTs anu thiee ietiospective obseivational
stuuies R0Ss met the inclusion ciiteiia 0ne stuuy
focuseu on functional measuies of immunity
antigen-inuuceu immunity anu six stuuies on
enumeiative paiameteis of immunity No stuuy on
clinical symptoms ielevant to infectious uiseases
coulu be iuentiieu 0veiall tbe included studies
suggested favorable effects of qigong exercise
on immunity but the quality of ieseaich foi most of
the stuuies examineu in this ieview was pooi Fui
thei iigoiously uesigneu stuuies aie iequiieu
which shoulu auheie to accepteu stanuaius of
methouology foi clinical tiials
1ul Chl for Schlzophrenlu

Tai-cbi for residential patients witb scbizopbre
nia on movement coordination negative symp
toms and functioning a pilot randomized con
trolled trial
Eviuence Baseu Complementaiy Alteinative
Neuicine Epub Nov
By Bo RT et al Bepaitment of Social Woik anu So
cial Auministiation 0niveisity of Bong Kong Bong
Kong
Ub|ective Patients with schizophienia iesiuing at
institutions often suffei fiom negative symptoms
motoi anu functional impaiiments moie seveie
than theii non-institutionalizeu counteipaits Tai-
chi emphasizes bouy ielaxation aleitness anu
movement cooiuination with beneits to balance
focus anu stiess ielief This pilot stuuy exploieu
the eficacy of Tai-chi on movement cooiuination
negative symptoms anu functioning uisabilities
towaius schizophienia Metbods A ianuomizeu


Mind-Body Medicine
Research Update

Compiled by Kevin Chen
Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


waitlist contiol uesign was auopteu wheie paitici
pants weie ianuomizeu to ieceive eithei the -
week Tai-chi piogiam anu stanuaiu caie oi only
the lattei Chinese patients with schizophienia
weie ieciuiteu fiom a iehabilitation iesiuency All
weie assesseu on movement cooiuination negative
symptoms anu functional uisabilities at baseline
following inteivention anu weeks aftei inteiven
tion Results Tai-chi buffeieu fiom ueteiioiations
in movement cooiuination anu inteipeisonal func
tioning the lattei with sustaineu effectiveness
weeks aftei the class was enueu Contiols showeu
maikeu ueteiioiations in those aieas The Tai-
chi gioup also expeiienceu fewei uisiuptions to life
activities at the -week maintenance Theie was no
signiicant impiovement in negative symptoms af
tei Tai-chi Conclusions Tbis study demonstrat
ed encouraging beneits of Tai-cbi in preventing
deteriorations in movement coordination and
interpersonal functioning for residential pa
tients witb scbizopbrenia The ease of implemen
tation facilitates piomotion at institutional psychi
atiic seivices
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eep Breuthlng unJ RexplrutlonHeurt Rute

Inluence of deep breatbing exercise on sponta
neous respiratory rate and beart rate variabil
ity a randomized controlled trial in bealtby
sub|ects

Inuian }ouinal of Physiology Phaimacology
}an-Nai-
By Thaiion E et al fiom Bept of Physiology Chiis
tian Neuical College velloie Tamil Nauu Inuia
Stuuies show that yogic type of bieathing exeicis
es ieuuces the spontaneous iespiiatoiy iate Bow
evei theie aie no conclusive stuuies on the effects
of bieathing exeicise on heait iate vaiiability We
investigateu the effects of non-
yogic bieathing exeicise on iespiiatoiy iate anu
heait iate vaiiability Bealthy subjects -
yeais both genueis weie ianuomizeu into the in
teivention gioup n which peifoimeu uaily
ueep bieathin gexeicise at bieathsmin Bz
foi one month anu a contiol gioup n which
uiu not peifoim any bieathing exeicise Baseline
iespiiatoiy iate anu shoit-teim heait iate vaiiabil
ity inuices weie assesseu in both gioups Reassess
ment was uone aftei one month anu the change in
the paiameteis fiom baseline was computeu foi
each gioup Compaiison of the absolute changes
meuian intei-quaitile ianges of the paiameteis
between the inteivention anu contiol gioup
showeu a signiicant uiffeience in the spontaneous
iespiiatoiy iate inteivention gioup - contiol
gioup cyclesmin P mean aiteiial
piessuie - vs mmBg P high fie
quency powei vs - ms P anu
sum of low anu high fiequency poweis vs
ms P Neithei the mean of the RR in
teivals noi the paiameteis ielecting sympatho-
vagal balance weie signiicantly uiffeient acioss the
gioups In conclusion the changes piouuceu by
simple ueep slow bieathing exeicise in the iespiia
toiy iate anu caiuiac autonomic mouulation of the

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No. 1

inteivention gioup weie signiicant when com
paieu to the changes in the contiol gioup Tbus
practice of deep slow breatbing exercise im
proves beart rate variability in bealtby sub|ects
witbout altering tbeir cardiac autonomic bal
ance These inuings have implications in the use of
ueep bieathing exeicises to impiove caiuiac auto
nomic contiol in subjects known to have ieuuceu
heait iate vaiiability
1ul Chl vx Phyxlcul 1herupy for Preventlng Fullx
Eficacy of supervised Tai Cbi exercises versus
conventional pbysical tberapy exercises in fall
prevention for frail older adults a randomized
controlled trial

Bisability Rehabilitation Nov Epub
aheau of piint by Tousignant N et al fiom Re
seaich Centie on Aging 0niveisity Institute of ueii
atiics of Sheibiooke 0niveisite ue Sheibiooke
Sheibiooke Que bec Canaua
Purpose To com
paie the effective
ness of supei
viseu Tai
Chi exeicises veisus
the conventional
physical theiapy ex
eicises in a peisonal
izeu iehabilitation
piogiam in teims of
the inciuence anu
seveiity of falls in a
fiail oluei popula
tion Metbod The
paiticipants weie
fiail oluei auults liv
ing in the communi
ty aumitteu to the
uay hospital piogiam in Sheibiooke Quebec Cana
ua n They weie ianuomizeu to ieceive a
-week inteivention eithei by supeiviseu Tai
Chi exeicises n oi conventional physical thei
apy n Fall inciuence anu seveiity weie as
sesseu using both the calenuai technique anu
phone inteiviews once a month uuiing months
following the enu of the inteivention 0thei vaiia
bles weie collecteu at baseline to compaie the two
gioups age comoibiuity balance sensoiy inteiac
tion on balance anu self-iateu health Results Both
inteiventions uemonstiateu a piotective effect on
falls but Tai Chi showeu a gieatei one RR
CI - as compaieu to conventional
physical theiapy exeicises Conclusions Super
vised Tai Cbi exercises as part of a rebabilita
tion program seem to be a more effective alter
native to tbe conventional pbysical tberapy ex
ercises for tbis speciic population

MeJltutlon Fffectx on Anxlety BlooJ Prexxure

A randomized controlled trial of tbe effects of
brief mindfulness meditation on anxiety symp
toms and systolic blood pressure in Cbinese
nursing students
Nurse FJucotion ToJoy Bec Epub aheau
of piint by Chen Y et al fiom School of Nuising
Southein Neuical 0niveisity uuangzhou China

Bachground Pievious stuuies suggesteu that
minufulness meuitation effectively ieuuceu stiess-
ielateu anxiety anu uepiession symptoms but no
ieseaich has evaluateu the eficacy of minuful
ness meuitation in nuises anu nuising stuuents in
China This stuuy tiieu to evaluate the effects of
biief minufulness meuitation on the anxiety anu
uepiession symptoms anu autonomic neivous sys
tem activity in Chinese nuising stuuents Metbods
A ianuomizeu contiolleu tiial was iun in a meuical
univeisity in uuangzhou nuising stuuents
weie ianuomly appioacheu by email anu seventy-
two iesponueu Sixty ieciuiteu stuuents weie ian
uomizeu into meuitation anu contiol gioup n
each aftei scieening anu exclusion uue to factois
known to inluence moou iatings anu autonomic
neivous system measuies The meuitation gioup
Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


peifoimeu minufulness meuitation min uaily foi
consecutive uays The contiol gioup ieceiveu no
inteivention except pie-post tieatment measuie
ments The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale anu Self-Rating
Bepiession Scale weie auministeieu to paiticipants
anu heait iate anu bloou piessuie weie measuieu
Pie- anu post-tieatment uata weie analyzeu using
iepeateu-measuies analysis of vaiiance Results
Biffeiences between pie- anu post-tieatment Self-
Rating Anxiety Scale scoies weie signiicantly laig
ei in the meuitation gioup than in the contiol
gioup but no similai effect was obseiveu foi Self-
Rating Bepiession Scale scoies Systolic bloou pies
suie was ieuuceu moie aftei the inteivention in
the meuitation gioup than in the contiol gioup
with an aveiage ieuuction of mmBg A moueiate
level of anxiety was associateu with the maxi
mum meuitation effect Conclusions Brief mind
fulness meditation was beneicial for Cbinese
nursing students in reducing anxiety symptoms
and lowering systolic blood pressure Individu
als witb moderate anxiety are most lihely to
beneit from a sbort-term mindful
ness meditation program
Yogu for Menopuuxe

Effectiveness of yoga for menopausal symptoms
a systematic review and meta-analysis of ran
domized controlled trials

Eviuence Baseu Complementaiy Alteinative Neu
icine Epub Nov By
Ciamei B et al fiom Chaii of Complementaiy anu
Integiative Neuicine 0niveisity of Buisbuig-Essen
Essen ueimany
Ub|ectives To systematically ieview anu meta-
analyze the effectiveness of yoga foi menopausal
symptoms Metbods Neuline Scopus the
Cochiane Libiaiy anu PsycINF0 weie scieeneu
thiough Apiil Ranuomizeu contiolleu tiials
RCTs weie incluueu if they assesseu the effect
ofyoga on majoi menopausal symptoms namely
psychological symptoms somatic symptoms
vasomotoi symptoms anuoi uiogenital
symptoms Foi each outcome stanuaiuizeu mean
uiffeiences SNBs anu coniuence inteivals
CIs weie calculateu Two authois inuepenuently
assesseu iisk of bias using the iisk of bias tool iec
ommenueu by the Cochiane Back Review uioup
Results Five RCTs with paiticipants weie in
cluueu in the qualitative ieview anu RCTs with
paiticipants weie incluueu in the meta-
analysis Theie was moueiate eviuence foi shoit-
teim effects on psychological symptoms SNB -
CI - to - P No eviuence
was founu foi total menopausal symptoms somatic
symptoms vasomotoi symptoms oi uiogenital
symptoms Yoga was not associateu with seiious
auveise events Conclusion This systematic ie
view founu moueiate eviuence foi shoit-teim effec
tiveness of yoga foi psychological symptoms in
menopausal women While moie iigoious ieseaich
is neeueu to unueipin these iesults yoga can be
preliminarily recommended as an additional
intervention for women wbo suffer from psy
cbological complaints associated witb meno
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Yogu for FnhunceJ Bruln Functlon

Yoga meditation practitioners exbibit greater
gray matter volume and fewer reported cogni
tive failures results of a preliminary voxel-
based morpbometric analysis

Eviuence Baseu Complementaiy Alteinative Neu
icine By Fioeligei B et al fiom
Bepaitment of Psychiatiy anu Behavioial Sciences
Buke 0niveisity Neuical Centei Buiham NC
0SA
Batha yoga techniques incluuing physical postuies
asanas bieathing exeicises pianayama anu
meuitation involve the piactice of minufulness In
tuin yoga meuitation piactices may inuuce the
state of minufulness which when evokeu iecui
iently thiough iepeateu piactice may acciue into
tiait oi uispositional minufulness Putatively these
changes may be meuiateu by expeiience-uepenuent
neuioplastic changes Though piioi stuuies have
iuentiieu uiffeiences in giay mattei volume uNv
between long-teim minufulness piactitioneis anu
contiols no stuuies to uate have iepoiteu on
whethei yoga meuitation is associateu with uNv
uiffeiences The piesent stuuy investigateu uNv
uiffeiences between yoga meuitation piactitioneis
YNP anu a matcheu contiol gioup Cu The YNP

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No. 1

gioup exhibiteu
gieatei uN vol
ume in fiontal
limbic tempoial
occipital anu ceie
bellai iegions
wheieas the Cu
hau no gieatei ie
gional gieatei
uNv In auuition
the YNP gioup
iepoiteu signii
cantly fewei cog
nitive failuies on
the Cognitive Fail
uies Question
naiie CFQ the
magnituue of
which was positively coiielateu with uNv in nu
meious iegions iuentiieu in the piimaiy analysis
Lastly uNv was positively coiielateu with the uu
iation of yoga piactice Results from tbis prelimi
nary study suggest tbat batba yoga practice may
be associated witb tbe promotion of neuro
plastic cbanges in executive brain systems
wbicb may confer tberapeutic beneits tbat ac
crue witb repeated practice
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ecam
MlnJfulnexx Yogu Fnhunce Sleep

Effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction on
sleep quality Results of a randomized trial
among Danisb breast cancer patients

Acta 0ncol }an Epub aheau of piint By
Anueisen SR et al Fiom Banish Cancei Society
Reseaich Centei Suivivoiship Copenhagen Ben
maik
The pievalence of sleep uistuibance is high among
cancei patients anu the sleep pioblems tenu to last
foi yeais aftei the enu of tieatment As pait of a
laige RCT NICA tiial NCT of the effect
of minufulness-baseu stiess ieuuction NBSR on
psychological anu somatic symptoms among bieast
cancei patients the aim of the cuiient stuuy was to
evaluate the effect of NBSR on the seconuaiy out
come sleep quality Material and metbods A to
tal of
women opeiat
eu on foi
bieast cancei
stage I-III -
months pievi
ously weie
ianuomizeu to
NBSR n
oi tieat
ment as usual
n both
gioups ie
ceiveu stanu
aiu clinical
caie The intei
vention con
sisteu of an
eight-week NBSR piogiam psycho-
euucation meuitation anu gentle yoga Sleep quali
ty was assesseu on the Neuical 0utcome Stuuy
sleep scale at baseline aftei the inteivention anu at
six- anu -months follow-up Results The mean
sleep pioblem scoies weie signiicantly lowei in the
NBSR gioup than in contiols immeuiately aftei the
inteivention Quantile iegiession analyses showeu
that the effect was statistically signiicant only foi
the paiticipants iepiesenteu by the lowei peicen
tile of change between baseline anu post-
inteivention ie those who hau moie sleep piob
lems the NBSR gioup hau a signiicantly smallei
inciease in sleep pioblems than the contiol gioup
Aftei the -month follow-up theie was no signii
cant between-gioup effect of NBSR on sleep quality
in intention-to-tieat analyses Conclusion MBSR
bad a statistically signiicant effect on sleep
quality |ust after tbe intervention but no long-
term effect among breast cancer patients Futuie
tiials in which paiticipation is iestiicteu to patients
with signiicant sleep pioblems aie iecommenueu
foi evaluating the effect of NBSR on sleep quality
MeJltutlon ReJucex Strexx Cognltlve Functlonx

Immediate and long-term effects
of meditation on acute stress reactivity cogni
tive functions and intelligence
Alteinative Theiapies Bealth Neuicine Nov-
Bec- By Singh Y Shaima R Talwai A
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