Tai chi could keep elderly from taking dangerous spills

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Doctors already know the more hours the elderly spend on the move and off their seats, the less likely they are to break a hip.

Now researchers are looking to an ancient Chinese exercise -- tai chi -- to see if it can help prevent falls and a number of other problems in the aging.

"Hip fractures are the seventh leading cause of death among older individuals," said Steven Wolf, of Emory University in Atlanta. "If we can delay the occurrence of these even by ten percent ... from an economic point of view, that's over $1 billion dollars a year in savings."

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Studies have already shown that tai chi can cut the risk of falls by almost 50 percent in healthy, robust seniors. The series of postures and slow movements, developed in China as a system of self-defense and to aid meditation, can also lower blood pressure, improve balance and give people an overall sense of well-being.

Now, researchers are looking to see if tai chi can also protect frail seniors from dangerous falls.

The National Institutes of Health has funded a study that will examine whether tai chi can help patients who have Parkinson's, a brain degeneration disease which can leave sufferers with tremors, stiffness and slowed movements. Parkinson's primarily affects the aging.

"We want people to preserve as much function as they have and not to take on excessive disability," said the American Geriatric Society's Dr. Eric Tangalos. "So tai chi is a wonderful form of group therapy, group meditation and group exercise."

Researchers say even though tai chi is one of the safest exercises around, seniors interested in learning should seek out a class designed for older adults and talk with a doctor before starting a program.

CNN Medical Correspondent Linda Ciampa contributed to this report

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American Geriatrics Society
National Institutes of Health

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