The ancient Chinese martial art Tai Chi could lower the risk of dementia, according to a new study.
Scientists from Oregon Research Institute asked more than 200 people over 65 with declining memory to complete a virtual Tai Chi programme.
After five and a half months, they completed several tests to measure memory, orientation, sleep quality and depression – and results were compared to a group that did stretching exercises.
Those who did a specific type of Tai Chi – which involved saying words and phrases while holding positions designed to improve flexibility and balance – saw three times greater improvements in cognitive skills compared to the stretching group. Follow-up tests nearly a year later showed continued improvements.
Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art, which involves completing a series of movements designed to increase balance, focus and flexibility
Commenting on the results in the journal Annals of Internal medicine, the researchers said their findings show the exercise plan can ‘potentially lower the risk for developing dementia’.
They added that the ‘magnitude of improvement’ seen in the study shows that Tai Chi could ‘slow or counter multiple years of cognitive decline and maintain functional capacity that is essential to living independently’.
It comes a week after Chinese researchers found that practicing Tai Chi was linked to slower deterioration in patients with Parkinson’s Disease.
Experts from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China followed 330 patients with the progressive neurological disease over three years, and found that those who did Tai Chi had a slower decline, year-on-year, compared to those who didn’t.
Tai Chi has shown benefits for both cognitive decline and Parkinson’s disease
The team found improvements in many different types of Parkinson’s symptoms – those that affect movement like stiffness and tremor, and non-mobility problems like fatigue, speech problems and anxiety.
It’s estimated that around one in 10 Americans aged over 65 have dementia – around 7million people.
One noteworthy sufferer is Die Hard actor Bruce Willis, 68, who was recently diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, as revealed by his former wife Demi Moore earlier this year.
A common precursor for the condition is what’s known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – where memory, orientation and other cognitive functions are compromised, but not enough to constitute a dementia diagnosis.
Hollywood star Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with dementia, his former wife Demi Moore announced earlier this year. He married his current wife, Emily Heming-Willis, 45, in 2009
Demi Moore announced her ex-husband’s dementia diagnosis earlier this year in a heartfelt instagram post in which she said he was facing challenges with communication, among other symptoms.
Studies show that around 10-20 per cent of people over 65 with MCI go on to develop dementia within a year; it is a leading risk factor for the disease.
In the latest study, 304 older people with MCI were split into three groups: one did an hour of regular Tai Chi twice weekly for five and a half months, another did the same amount of simple stretching and the remainder did a special type of the martial art called cognitively enhanced Tai Chi.
All the groups received instructions via a video call, and completed the exercises at home.
At the end of the experiment, scores for memory, attention, language, orientiation and spacial awareness improved by three points, on average, for those in the enhanced Tai Chi group.
Those doing regular Tai Chi improved by 1.7 points, and those who stretched by just 0.3 points.
Scientists have found that Tai Chi can also ease the tremors seen in Parkinson’s disease
Researchers also found that the their ability to perform two tasks at once increased by 20 per cent, while there was no change in the stretching group.
Experts aren’t entirely sure what may be behind this promising benefit. However, it is thought that practicing thoughtful movements while remembering specific phrases improves connectivity between different parts of the brain.
Other studies have found that physical activity, including Tai Chi, can increase the level of the brain hormone dopamine – which serves multiple functions including controlling movement and mood.
One of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s Disease is a severe lack of dopamine, caused by the degeneration of nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which controls movement.
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