The evidence for qigong in patients with high blood pressure
Professor Edzard Ernst and colleagues from the Universities of Exeter & Plymouth in the UK report encouraging evidence for qigong in the treatment of high systolic blood pressure.
They searched the medical literature up to August 2006. The quality of each study design was evaluated using the Jadad score (described here if your interested); 12 studies were selected.
And, the results.
Qigong plus antihypertensive drugs compared to antihypertensive drugs alone.
- Analysis of the combined results from 2 studies found beneficial effects in favor of qigong (average difference in systolic/diastolic blood pressure -12/-8.5 mmHg).
Qigong compared to waiting list control groups.
- Significant average difference in decreased systolic blood pressure of -18.5 mmHg with qigong.
The bottom line?
The investigators’ assessment: despite “some encouraging evidence? the conclusiveness of these findings is limited. Rigorously designed trials are warranted to confirm these results.”
7/11/07 19:53 JR
