When researchers combined a weekly tai chi exercise class with a standard depression treatment for a group of depressed elderly adults, they found greater improvement in the level of depression — along with improved quality of life, better memory and cognition, and more overall energy — than among a different group in which the standard depression treatment was paired with a weekly health education class.
“This is the first study to demonstrate the benefits of tai chi in the management of late-life depression, and we were encouraged by the results,” said first author Dr. Helen Lavretsky. “We know that nearly two-thirds of elderly patients who seek depression treatment fail to achieve relief with a prescribed medication.”
via Study Shows Tai Chi Effective Depression Treatment in the Elderly.
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