The Effects Of Tai Chi On Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Many people suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It is estimated that between 836 thousand and 2.5 million are affected by it in the United States alone, never mind the rest of the world’s population.

There has been a lot of evidence showing that patients who have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also called “CFS”, has produced changes in the functional connectivity of the brain at rest. However, there seems to not have been any studies involving the effects on brain network by using Tai Chi Chuan as a therapy for CFS

One of the recognized causes of the symptoms CFS patients deal with is brain dysfunction. The abnormality of the “intrinsic functional connectivity”, also known as “FC”, for the brain’s resting-state networks is foremost one of the brain dysfunctions involved with CFS.

To investigate the effects between the functional networks of the brain with those practicing Tai Chi Chuan of patients who have CFS, a total of 40 individuals, 21 patients suffering from CFS as well as 19 healthy control individuals were trained for one month in the practice of Tai Chi Chuan. None of the participants had practiced Tai Chi Chuan before, and they had no other underlying health conditions.

The study found that the abnormalities between the functional networks of the brain could show improvement after practicing Tai Chi Chuan for one month. These findings would suggest that regular long-term practice of Tai Chi Chuan might promote functional plasticity of the brain networks for patients with CFS. The lessened brain dysfunction due to this may reduce the symptoms for those dealing with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

This is good news as the practice of Tai Chi Chuan has been shown to be beneficial for the physical and mental well-being for most of those who practice the exercise.

You can read the in-depth original study here

Check out our other articles in the Health section of Slanted Flying website!