March 23, 2005 – The practice of Qigong would significantly lower blood pressure in people with hypertension.
Korean researchers conducted a clinical trial1 with 36 subjects suffering from arterial hypertension in order to test the effects of Qigong on this condition. From traditional Chinese medicine, Qi Gong is a practice related to Tai Ji Quan (Tai chi).
The participants, aged 40 to 65, were all sedentary, that is, they did not normally exercise. None was taking antihypertensive medication. Under the direction of qualified instructors, the subjects of a first group participated, for eight weeks, in two weekly Qigong sessions of 30 minutes each, while those in the control group did not participate.
Throughout the clinical trial, all subjects – including those in the control group – were tested for blood pressure. In addition, their self-esteem and their attitude to their illness were assessed using questionnaires designed for this purpose.
The results indicate that the practice of Qigong had the effect of significantly lowering blood pressure in active subjects. Measurements taken at the start as well as at the end of the experiment indicate that their average systolic pressure increased from 152 mmHg to 137.3 mmHg, and their average diastolic pressure from 97.2 mmHg to 83.6 mmHg. In subjects in the control group, these data remained stable throughout the trial, at approximately 150 mmHg systolic pressure and approximately 95 mmHg diastolic pressure.
In addition, the patients in the group who practiced Qigong had improved self-esteem during this period and adopted a more positive attitude about their ability to control their blood pressure.
The authors of the study point out that high blood pressure is a recognized risk factor in the incidence of cardiovascular disorders, including myocardial infarction, stroke and kidney failure. They point out that non-drug treatments for high blood pressure have the advantage of not causing the side effects associated with synthetic antihypertensive drugs.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
1. Lee MS, Lim HJ, Lee MS, Impact of qigong exercise on self-efficacy and other cognitive perceptual variables in patients with essential hypertension, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, August 2004, Vol. 10, No 4, 675-80.
