The mind-body exercise practised in China is just as good as talk therapy to boost sleep, according to a new study.
Tai chi, the Chinese mind-body exercise, is just as good as talk therapy for chronic insomnia, a new study has found.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, randomly assigned 200 Chinese adults over 50 years old to either tai chi or cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), a goal-oriented talk therapy that helps manage depression and anxiety, to treat chronic insomnia.
Chronic insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders in middle-aged and older adults and could lead to cardiovascular diseases, mental disorders and cognitive impairment, the study notes.
Both groups completed a total of 24 sessions over a three-month period.
The researchers then measured the changes in insomnia severity after three months and a year after the study.
Therapy was considered the better treatment at the three-month mark, but a year onwards, those who studied tai chi saw similar results to those who went to therapy.
Tai chi and CBT therapy also had “comparable benefits on subjective sleep parameters, quality of life, mental health and physical activity level,” the study found.
“Our study supports tai chi as an alternative treatment approach for the long-term management of chronic insomnia in middle-aged and older adults,” a statement from the research team notes.
The authors note that the study participants may have continued practising tai chi after the observation period, which could have yielded more positive effects than if they had stopped after the study.
They also said that further studies are needed to understand whether tai chi could be considered beneficial to people in other countries, regions or other demographics.
