* 20% to 30% of people who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries...
* Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries...
* Most fractures among older adults are caused by falls...
* Many people who fall, even if they are not injured, develop a fear of falling. This fear may cause them to limit their activities, leading to reduced mobility and loss of physical fitness, which in turn increases their actual risk of falling.

Older adults can take several steps to protect their independence and reduce their chances of falling. They can... exercise regularly. It’s important that the exercises focus on increasing leg strength and improving balance. Tai Chi programs are especially good.

Read Full Report at: http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Falls/adultfalls.html

Read Full Report at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/preventingfalls/CDCCompendium_030508.pdf

Physical activity can reduce pain and improve function, mobility, mood, and quality of life for most adults with many types of arthritis including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and lupus. Physical activity can also help people with arthritis manage other chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Regular physical activity is just as important for people with arthritis or other rheumatic conditions as it is for all children and adults. Scientific studies have shown that participation in moderate-intensity, low-impact physical activity improves pain, function, mood, and quality of life without worsening symptoms or disease severity.

Tai Chi is classified as a moderate intensity balance activity by the CDC.

Read Full Report at: http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/pa_overview.htm

Arthritis patients may gain physical and emotional relief from the ancient Chinese art of Tai Chi, finds a new study, the largest of its kind. Patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia felt better and moved more easily after taking twice-weekly classes in Tai Chi, a system of meditative exercise, researchers found. "It reduced pain, stiffness and fatigue, and improved their balance," said study lead author Leigh F. Callahan, an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

In addition to evidence of mild to moderate relief from Tai Chi, participants reported gaining a better sense of physical stability,

The findings of the study -- which was funded in part by the Arthritis Foundation and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- were recently released at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in Atlanta (November 8, 2010).

Read Full Report at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_105949.html

Conducted a single-blind, randomized trial of classic Yang-style tai chi as compared with a control intervention consisting of wellness education and stretching for the treatment of fibromyalgia

Tai chi may be a useful treatment for fibromyalgia and merits long-term study in larger study populations. A clinical trial at Tufts Medical Center found that after 12 weeks of tai chi, patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, did significantly better in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, sleeplessness and depression than a comparable group given stretching exercises and wellness education.

Read Full Report at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa0912611
Article on Report at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/health/19taichi.html?_r=1

Shingles, a painful nerve condition, is caused by the virus that causes chickenpox. The virus, varicella-zoster, can linger in the body for many years after a case of chickenpox and then emerge as shingles. The disease generally affects people older than 50, as their level of antibodies to the virus decreases.

In a study paid for by the National Institutes of Health, they found that the people who did tai chi improved their immunity to varicella-zoster virus. They also found that when the volunteers were vaccinated later against the virus, the tai chi practitioners had a better response to the vaccine.

The Tai Chi group also showed significant improvements for physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, and mental health.

Abstract of the study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01109.x/abstract
Article on the study at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/health/nutrition/17exer.html

Cardiovascular disease is clearly an important public health problem, with 1 in 3 American adults affected. Mortality due to underlying cardiovascular disease accounts for more than one-third of all deaths. The evidence from long-term prospective studies consistently suggests that the majority of cardiovascular disease is preventable with healthy lifestyles and modification of known risk factors. While pharmacological therapy is often emphasized, the critical importance of non-pharmacological approaches and lifestyle modifications, including physical activity and exercise, continues to be recognized for both primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

The available studies suggest that tai chi exercise may have beneficial effects for patients with cardiovascular conditions and some cardiovascular risk factors, although the literature to date is limited.

Given the existing evidence, tai chi exercise may be a reasonable adjunct to conventional care.

Read Full Report at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/ppmc/articles/PMC2755083/

Sleep fragmentation/Insomnia is a well-known clinical feature in patients with heart failure. The mechanisms involved include sleepdisordered breathing, poor sleep hygiene, direct (e.g., beta-blocker) and indirect (e.g., diuretic causing nocturia) medication effects, orthopnea/paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, and possibly neurohumoral activation itself. Recurrent arousals can severely fragment sleep, contributing to impaired cognitive function and quality of life.

Preliminary findings suggest Tai Chi may improve sleep stability in patients with heart failure on maximal medical therapy. As stable sleep has the potential to improve the sleep-related hemodynamic profile in heart failure and have at least theoretical cardioprotective effects, further evaluation of this safe approach seems justified.

Tai Chi exercise may enhance sleep stability in patients with chronic heart failure. This sleep effect may have a beneficial impact on blood pressure, arrhythmogenesis and quality of life.

Read Full Report at: http://reylab.bidmc.harvard.edu/pubs/2008/sleep-medicine-2008-9-527.pdf
Abstract on different Sleep study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15161452
Abstract on different Sleep study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18652095

This study evaluated the safety of green tea polyphenol supplementation combined with Tai Chi exercise in postmenopausal osteopenic women, along with effects on quality of life in this population. Tai Chi, featuring gentle, slow and flowing movements, has been considered a safe exercise with very low risk of injury.

Carried out as a double-blind, placebo-controlled, intervention trial (the "holy grail" of scientific studies), this experiment involved 171 postmenopausal women (mean age: ~57 y) who had weak bones but not full-fledged osteoporosis.

The results show that consumption of green tea polyphenols (500 mg/day which is about 4-6 cups of steeped green tea daily) and participation in tai chi (3 hr/week for 24 weeks) independently enhanced markers of bone health by 3 and 6 months, respectively. A similar effect was found for muscle strength at the 6-month time point. Participants taking tai chi classes also reported significant beneficial effects in quality of life in terms of improving their emotional and mental health. Perhaps most remarkable, however, was the substantial effect that both green tea polyphenols and tai chi had on biological markers of oxidative stress. Because oxidative stress is a main precursor to inflammation, this finding suggests that green tea and tai chi may help reduce the underlying etiology of not only osteoporosis, but other inflammatory diseases as well.

Read Full Report at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3014873/pdf/1472-6882-10-76.pdf
Article on Report at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110410130827.htm

Read Full Report at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/health/28brody.html