Tai Chi improves balance and prevents falls in people with Parkinson's disease

摘要

Question: Does Tai Chi improve balance and functionalmobility, and prevent falls in people with Parkinson’s disease?Design: Randomised, controlled trial with blinded outcomeassessment. Setting: A hospital and local community in China.Participants: Adults aged over 40 years with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease who were independently mobile and had fallenduring the past year. Randomisation allocated 40 participants tothe Tai Chi group and 40 to the control group. Interventions: Bothgroups received usual medical treatment. The intervention groupparticipated in Yang style Tai Chi, which emphasises diagonalweight shifts, awareness of body position and breathing. Anexperienced instructor guided the participants through three60-minute sessions per week for 12 weeks. The control groupundertook no Tai Chi exercise.