Francisca M Vera1, Juan M Manzaneque2, Francisco M Rodríguez3, Rebecca Bendayan2, Nieves Fernández4, Antonio Alonso4. 1. Universidad de Málaga, Andalucía Tech, Departamento de Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain. pvera@uma.es. 2. Universidad de Málaga, Andalucía Tech, Departamento de Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain. 3. Unidad de Gestión Clínica de Laboratorio AGS Este de Málaga-Axarquía, Málaga, Spain. 4. Servicio de Inmunología, Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga, Avenida de Carlos Haya s/n, Málaga, Spain.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Qigong is an ancient form of health maintenance, dating back thousands of years, which is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Numerous physical as well as mental benefits have been classically ascribed to this traditional mind-body method which integrates slow body movements, breathing, and meditation. Albeit we have already reported an immunomodulatory action of qigong in other investigations, measures were then assessed 1 day after the qigong program ended. PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to assess the acute effects of Taoist qigong practice on immune cell counts in healthy subjects 1 h after training. METHOD: Forty-three healthy subjects participated in the study of whom 25 were randomly allocated to the experimental group and 18 to the control group. The experimental subjects underwent daily qigong training for 1 month. Blood samples for the quantification of immune parameters (number and percentage of monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, total lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells) were taken the day before the experiment commenced and 1 h after the last session of the training program ended. As statistical analysis, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between the experimental and control groups, with the experimental group showing higher values in the number (p = 0.006) and the percentage (p = 0.04) of B lymphocytes, as well as lower values in the percentage of NK cells (p = 0.05), as compared to control. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that Taoist qigong is able to exert acute immunomodulatory effects on components of both innate as well as adaptive immune response.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Qigong is an ancient form of health maintenance, dating back thousands of years, which is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Numerous physical as well as mental benefits have been classically ascribed to this traditional mind-body method which integrates slow body movements, breathing, and meditation. Albeit we have already reported an immunomodulatory action of qigong in other investigations, measures were then assessed 1 day after the qigong program ended. PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to assess the acute effects of Taoist qigong practice on immune cell counts in healthy subjects 1 h after training. METHOD: Forty-three healthy subjects participated in the study of whom 25 were randomly allocated to the experimental group and 18 to the control group. The experimental subjects underwent daily qigong training for 1 month. Blood samples for the quantification of immune parameters (number and percentage of monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, total lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells) were taken the day before the experiment commenced and 1 h after the last session of the training program ended. As statistical analysis, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between the experimental and control groups, with the experimental group showing higher values in the number (p = 0.006) and the percentage (p = 0.04) of B lymphocytes, as well as lower values in the percentage of NK cells (p = 0.05), as compared to control. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that Taoist qigong is able to exert acute immunomodulatory effects on components of both innate as well as adaptive immune response.
Authors: Fang Wang; Jenny K M Man; Eun-Kyoung Othelia Lee; Taixiang Wu; Herbert Benson; Gregory L Fricchione; Weidong Wang; Albert Yeung Journal: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Date: 2013-01-14 Impact factor: 2.629
Authors: Fan Feng; Sylvie Tuchman; John W Denninger; Gregory L Fricchione; Albert Yeung Journal: Am J Geriatr Psychiatry Date: 2020-05-15 Impact factor: 4.105