Diabetes and Tai Chi Therapy
by Bill Douglas

I was quite surprised when I began searching for research
on Tai Chi’s benefits for diabetes . . . it was very
difficult to come by. Because on its face, Tai Chi seems
to possibly offer many benefits to someone with diabetes.
Tai Chi is known to stimulate microcirculation in
practitioners, and is a highly effective stress management
technique, and very gently burns a significant amount of
calories. In fact, Tai Chi may actually help the body find
homeostatic chemical levels. For example, in a study on
sex hormones Tai Chi was found to have a “balancing effect”
on the hormonal chemistry of participants, lowering the
abnormally high estrogen levels in older men, while raising
the abnormally low estrogen levels in older women.

These findings in other research led me to believe that
there had probably been substantial research done on Tai
Chi & Qigong’s benefits for those with diabetes, given that
these findings in other studies at least initially suggest
Tai Chi & Qigong may offer much to the diabetes patient.
But, as I said, it doesn’t appear there is much out there
in terms of “tai chi & qigong as an adjunct diabetes
therapy,” at least from Western institutions.

However, a couple of Chinese medical institutions studies
had very exciting results. A Beijing University of Chinese
Medicine and Pharmacology study found that blood sugar
could be lowered successfully by doing QiGong exercises.
42.9 percent of patients in the study were able to take
less medicine while having more staple foods. Also, a
Nanjing University study found that Tai Chi exercise helped
to regulate metabolic disorder of type 2 diabetes mellitus
with geriatric obesity by regulating the nervous-endocrine
system in the body. So, why isn’t there more Western
medical research on this?

Unfortunately, less than one half of one percent of NIH
funding goes to research all alternative or “complimentary”
health techniques. Meaning that yoga, meditation,
herbology, homeopathy, etc. etc. all share that tiny, tiny
slice of the NIH funding pie. Until the NIH provides
adequate attention / funding for Tai Chi & Qigong (Chi
Kung) research, many of the benefits people with various
maladies have enjoyed from Tai Chi & Qigong will not be
enjoyed by the millions of others with such conditions.
Because physicians will lack the knowledge necessary to
inform their patients of Tai Chi & Qigong as a possible
viable therapeutic option, until adequate research is done.

Never the less, you might ask your doctor to do some
research on this for you. But, for now, let’s look at
current recommendations for diabetes therapy, and then
compare Tai Chi benefits systematically to see if it might
be a good therapeutic match for diabetes. As always, I
remind everyone not to self-treat. These articles are
meant to stimulate a dialogue between you and your
physician, and your physician and medical research
institutions to lobby on your behalf to get powerful
natural health therapies like Tai Chi fully researched so
that you have the maximum possible options for your health
protocol.

In an article posted on Post Graduate Medicine Online, Dr.s
Adam B. Mayerson, MD; Silvio E. Inzucchi, MD, state that
“Diet, exercise, and the attainment of ideal body weight
are the central components of any therapeutic [type 2
diabetes] regimen . . .”. Tai Chi is proven to be an
effective exercise that not only provides cardiovascular
benefit (roughly equal to moderate impact aerobics), but
surprisingly given Tai Chi’s gentle low impact nature,
burns a significant number of calories, in fact more than
surfing, and nearly as much as downhill skiing. To achieve
such caloric burning benefits, and cardiovascular benefits,
with such a gentle exercise as Tai Chi may be important to
those with diabetes.

The health site Top5plus5.com’s information on diabetes
explained that the type of exercise a patient practices is
crucial to their well being, stating “Patients with active
diabetic retinopathy should not participate in exercises
involving straining or heavy lifting since these activities
can provoke eye damage. Patients should also be aware that
nerve damage caused by high blood sugar levels can lead to
a loss of sensation in the feet, with a subsequent
increased risk of blistering and ulceration. Patients with
progressive heart damage from high blood sugar should be
warned about the risk of sudden heart failure and death.”
Tai Chi may offer promise regarding heart health so
important to diabetes sufferers. On the 9th of October,
2004, BBC News - Saturday, reported “Tai Chi 'can treat
heart failure.” The British Heart Foundation said the study
was "excellent news" and Tai Chi could be adopted into
treatment programmes in the UK in the future.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3728174.stm.

Again, one should never self-treat, and should always
approach all possible therapies in conjunction with their
physician. Our articles at World Tai Chi & Qigong Day are
meant to stimulate discussion between you and your
physician, and hopefully between your physician and health
institutions. Our hope is that this will lead to a more
realistic apportionment of medical research funding towards
Tai Chi & Qigong (Chi Kung), and other natural health
therapies. One caution is, we hope that researchers will
approach Tai Chi & Qigong with a desire to find out “why it
helps many people” rather than with an agenda to prove that
it doesn’t work. The way that studies are done is just as
important as if studies are done.

Our vision for the future is that physicians too, will
begin to discover for themselves what Tai Chi and Qigong
health technologies have to offer on a personal level as
Tai Chi is increasingly offered through medical
universities to aspiring nurses and physicians. The future
of healthcare should not be a war between alternative
therapies and standard therapies, but an expansion of
standard therapies to include whatever works best for the
patients. Many in the medical field are great advocates of
such a vision, and World Tai Chi & Qigong Day celebrates
their efforts.

About the Author:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bill Douglas is the Tai Chi Expert at DrWeil.com, Founder
of World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day (held in 50 nations each
year), and has authored and co-authored several books
including a #1 best selling Tai Chi book “The Complete
Idiot’s Guide to T’ai Chi & Qigong.” Bill’s been a Tai Chi
source for The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.
You can learn more about Tai Chi & Qigong, and also contact
Bill Douglas at http://www.worldtaichiday.org

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