LONDON: Tai Chi Chuan, the traditional Chinese martial arts exercises, could help curb symptoms of type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
The study suggested that Tai Chi might prompt a fall in blood glucose levels, or improve blood glucose metabolism, triggering a drop in the inflammatory response, reports the British Medical Journal.
The findings of the study indicate that regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise improves T cell helper function of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with an increase in T-bet transcription factor and IL-12 production.
T cells are a vital constituent of the body's immune system, which generate powerful chemicals, including interleukins (ILs), which alter the immune response.
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British Journal of Sports Medicine
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/11/845
Regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise improves T cell helper function of patients with type 2 diabetes
mellitus with an increase in T-bet transcription factor and IL-12 production
Abstract
Background: Exercise has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM); its benefit to immune function, however, remains to be determined.
Objective: This study investigated the effect of a 12-week course of Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) exercise on T cell helper (Th) reaction in patients with type 2 DM.
Methods: A case-control study was performed in 30 pairs of patients with type 2 DM and normal age-matched adults. Fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, mediators (interleukin (IL)-12, IL-4 and transforming growth factor (TGF)β) and transcription factors (T-bet, GATA-3 and FoxP3) of Th1/Th2/T regulatory (Treg) reaction were measured before and after a 12-week TCC exercise programme.
Results: Fasting glucose and HbA1c levels in the patients with type 2 DM were significantly higher than in age-matched controls before exercise. After TCC exercise, HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 DM significantly decreased (7.59 (0.32)% vs 7.16 (0.22)%; p = 0.047) and blood levels of IL-12 increased significantly (5.96 (1.10) vs 12.96 (3.07); p = 0.035). To study the molecular Th1/Th2/Treg reaction, patients with type 2 DM were found to have lower T-bet but not GATA-3 or FoxP3 expression than normal controls before TCC exercise. After the 12-week TCC exercise T-bet expression significantly increased in patients with type 2 DM.
Conclusions: A 12-week TCC exercise programme decreases HbA1c levels along with an increase in the Th1 reaction. A combination of TCC with medication may provide an even better improvement in both metabolism and immunity of patients with type 2 DM.
Researchers in Taiwan carried out a case-control study of 30 pairs of type 2 diabetics to investigate the effects of a 12-week course in tai chi exercise on T cell helper reaction in type 2 diabetics. After 12-weeks of tai chi the tai chi group had decrease HbA1c levels and increased T cell helper reaction. This indicates that a combination of tai chi along with medication may be beneficial both to metabolism and immunity in type 2 diabetics.
ABSTRACT:
Br J Sports Med. 2009 Oct;43(11):845-50. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2007.043562. Epub 2008 Apr 2.
Regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise improves T cell helper function of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with an increase in T-bet transcription factor and IL-12 production.
Yeh SH, Chuang H, Lin LW, Hsiao CY, Wang PW, Liu RT, Yang KD.
Source
Department of Medical Research, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Kaohsiung, Chang Gung University, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Exercise has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM); its benefit to immune function, however, remains to be determined.
OBJECTIVE:
This study investigated the effect of a 12-week course of Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) exercise on T cell helper (Th) reaction in patients with type 2 DM.
METHODS:
A case-control study was performed in 30 pairs of patients with type 2 DM and normal age-matched adults. Fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, mediators (interleukin (IL)-12, IL-4 and transforming growth factor (TGF)beta) and transcription factors (T-bet, GATA-3 and FoxP3) of Th1/Th2/T regulatory (Treg) reaction were measured before and after a 12-week TCC exercise programme.
RESULTS:
Fasting glucose and HbA1c levels in the patients with type 2 DM were significantly higher than in age-matched controls before exercise. After TCC exercise, HbA1c levels in patients with type 2 DM significantly decreased (7.59 (0.32)% vs 7.16 (0.22)%; p = 0.047) and blood levels of IL-12 increased significantly (5.96 (1.10) vs 12.96 (3.07); p = 0.035). To study the molecular Th1/Th2/Treg reaction, patients with type 2 DM were found to have lower T-bet but not GATA-3 or FoxP3 expression than normal controls before TCC exercise. After the 12-week TCC exercise T-bet expression significantly increased in patients with type 2 DM.
CONCLUSIONS:
A 12-week TCC exercise programme decreases HbA1c levels along with an increase in the Th1 reaction. A combination of TCC with medication may provide an even better improvement in both metabolism and immunity of patients with type 2 DM.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18385192?ordinalpos=
1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.
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A total of 5 studies were included: 2 randomized controlled trials and 3 nonrandomized clinical trials. The results of the studies were mixed and conflicting, with some showing greater improvements in blood glucose levels compared with exercise, and others showing no effects from Tai Chi interventions.
- Medscape Today, from WebMD, 10/26/2010
Read entire article at:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/729132
DIABETES. T'ai Chi's stress management and increased circulation qualities make it ideal for diabetes. 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. Nanjing University's 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.
