everydaytaichi.org
  • Welcome
  • Lucy's BLOG
  • Lesson of the Day
  • TV Broadcast
  • Mission
  • About Me
    • lucy featured in Honolulu newspaper
    • lucy & Ken: top producer for Olelo
    • everydaytaichi background
    • everydaytaichi lucy's Tai Chi Journey
    • everydaytaichi teaching style
    • everydaytaichi lucy: producer for local television station
    • everydaytaichi lucy volunteer community service
    • everydaytaichi lucy "Rookie of the Year" Award
    • Lucy's Premier Show Private Party
  • The Art of Tai Chi
    • What is Tai Chi?
    • Ken's Tai Chi Journey
    • Ken Talks: Importance of Gravity
    • Ken Talks on Proprioception & Kinesthetic Awareness
    • Ten Essentials of Yang Chengfu
    • Yang Style 88 Long Form
    • Yang Style 24 Movements Short Form
    • Yang Style 10 Form
    • Yang Style 16 Form
    • Ken Talks on Martial Arts Intent
    • Food for Thought
    • everydaytaichi favorite bookmarks
  • everydaytaichi
    • What is everydaytaichi?
    • Where is everydaytaichi?
    • How did everydaytaichi begin?
    • How old is everydaytaichi.org? >
      • everydaytaichi.org celebrates our 5th anniversary
      • everydaytaichi.org celebrates our 4th anniversary
      • everydaytaichi.org celebrates our 3rd anniversary
    • What Are Some Opportunities for everydaytaichi students?
    • everydaytaichi Oldies but Goodies
    • everydaytaichi Gallery of Tai Chi Poses
    • everydaytaichi promotes everydaytaichi health
    • Lucy's Personal Project Apple Store in California
  • Tai Chi Aloha Around the World
    • Tai Chi During Global Pandemic
    • Tai Chi Aloha to Singapore >
      • Asian Civilization Museum
      • Aloha to Singapore Botanic Garden
      • Singapore Zoo & Aquarium & Museum
      • Aloha to Singapore River Walk
      • Lucy's Magical Tai Chi Ball
      • Gardens by the Bay
      • Farewell Singapore!
    • Lucy's Tai Chi Aloha to the Silk Road >
      • Come Take a Virtual Tour of the Silk Road
      • Lucy's Itinerary to the Silk Road
      • Lucy's Tai Chi on Silk Road
      • Come see the once in a life time experiences!
      • Taste the Food of the Silk Road
      • Ancient Treasures of Silk Road
      • Last Day: Beijing Walmart
    • Lucy's Tai Chi Aloha on Maui >
      • everydaytaichi family on Maui
    • everydaytaichi spreads tai chi aloha on Kauai >
      • everydaytaichi family on Kauai
    • everydaytaichi in Osaka + Kyoto, again
    • everydaytaichi in Hokkaido Japan
    • everydaytaichi at Osaka, Japan
    • everydaytaichi at Waikaloa & Volcano on Hawaii Island
    • everydaytaichi at Coconut Island, Kaneohe Hawaii
    • everydaytaichi on Baltic Cruise >
      • everydaytaichi in Sweden
      • everydaytaichi in Finland
      • everydaytaichi in Russia
      • everydaytaichi in Germany
      • everydaytaichi in Denmark
    • everydaytaich Ken Christmas Island
    • everydaytaichi Duets by Lucy & Ken
    • everydaytaichi lucy on Maui for 71st
    • everydaytaichi at Ko Olina Beach
    • everydaytaichi at Sequoia National Park
    • Gallery: Sequoia National Park
    • everydaytaichi in California: Irvine & San Mateio
    • Gallery: California- Irvine & San Mateio
    • everydaytaichi in Japan 2016 >
      • Japan Alps Gallery
      • Tai Chi Aloha in Japan
      • Tai Chi Poses In Japan
    • everydaytaichi visits New Zealand...a quick guide >
      • everydaytaichi in Auckland
      • everydaytaichi in Hamilton
      • everydaytaichi in Rotorua at a Farm
      • everydaytaichi sees sheep shearing at Argodome
      • Lake Taupo + Green & Blue Lakes, New Zealand
      • Wai-o-tapu Geothermal Spectacular Geyser
      • Waimalu, Geothermal Spectacular
      • everydaytaichi goes to Devonport, New Zealand
      • Redwood Forest, New Zealand
      • Huka Falls, New Zealand
      • Hobbiton, New Zealand
      • everydaytaichi ken cooking green mussels, grilling lamb...
      • everydaytaichi family having fun
    • everydaytaichi visits Alaska...quick guide >
      • everydaytaichi in Seattle, Washington
      • everydaytaichi on board ship
      • everydaytaichi visits Juneau, Alaska
      • everydaytaichi visits Skagway, Alaska
      • everydaytaichi visits Ketchikan, Alaska
      • everydaytaichi sails to Glacier Bay, Alaska
      • everydaytaichi activites on board ship
      • everydaytaichi goes to Victoria, British Columbia
      • everydaytaichi back in Seattle, Washington
      • everydaytaichi back home, Honolulu, Hawaii
    • everydaytaichi in China 2010 >
      • Beijing
      • Great Wall
      • Summer Palace >
        • Videos
      • Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City
      • Olympic Park Bird's Nest Stadium
      • Xian
      • Bund in Shanghai
      • Suchow and the Grand Canal
      • Yangtze River Cruise >
        • Videos
      • Chongqing
    • everydaytaichi does Luk Tung Kuen in Hong Kong >
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • everydaytaichi travels to Southeast Asia 2011 >
      • Vietnam >
        • Videos
      • Cambodia >
        • Tai Chi Videos
        • Videos
      • Thailand >
        • Videos
      • Taiwan >
        • Video
    • everydaytaichi in the US >
      • California >
        • Tai Chi at San Mateo >
          • Tai Chi Videos
          • Family Album >
            • Aa's Newest Kid on the Block Comic Strip
            • ET's Comic Strip Page
            • Aa & ET Boulder Project Replica
            • Operation Bear
          • everydaytaichi Granddaughter's Album
        • Tai Chi in Ryder Park
        • Tai Chi in Redwood City
        • Tai Chi at Half Moon Bay
        • Tai Chi at the Gardens, Central Park
        • Tai Chi in Roseville
      • Massachusetts >
        • Family Album
        • Tai Chi in Cambridge
        • Tai Chi at Harvard
        • Tai Chi in Boston Commons
        • Tai Chi at the Boston Public Garden
        • Tai Chi in Dover
        • everydaytaichi in Germany
        • Tai Chi in Wellesley
      • Maine >
        • Tai Chi Video
        • Family Album
    • everydaytaichi in Europe 2009 >
      • Prague, the Czech Republic
      • Vienna, Austria
      • Budapest, Hungary >
        • Videos
    • Zion National Park >
      • Tai Chi Videos
    • everydaytaichi in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii >
      • Makapuu Hike Ka Iwi Trail Jan. 2015
      • Makapuu Hike Ka Iwi Park >
        • Makapuu Beach
        • Videos
        • Makapuu Lighthouse everydaytaichi family
      • Sandy Beach >
        • Videos
      • Queen's Beach
      • Bellows Air Force Base >
        • Video
      • Kuliouou Beach Park >
        • Videos
      • Hawaii Kai Marina >
        • Videos
      • China Wall Koko Head East Honolulu >
        • Video
      • everydaytaichi at Ala Moana Magic Island Yacht Harbor, Waikiki Beach Sunset
      • Kuhio Beach, Waikiki >
        • everydaytaichi lucy in Waikiki Hawaiian Village Beach Walk
        • Diamond Head from Kapiolani Park >
          • Video
        • Kapiolani Bandstand, Waikiki
        • everydaytaichi lucy at Waikiki Beach
      • Kualoa Park, on Windward, Oahu, Hawaii >
        • Laniloa Point, Laie, on Windward, Oahu, Hawaii
      • Waikahalulu Gardens in Downtown Oahu, Hawaii
      • Nuuanu Pali Lookout Oahu, Hawaii
      • Lanikai Beach Park Oahu, Hawaii
    • everydaytaichi in Maui >
      • everydaytaichi takes the road to Hana, Maui, Hawaii
      • Tai Chi at Iao Valley
      • Tai Chi at Kula Upcountry
      • Maalaea Harbor
      • Tai Chi at Wailea
      • Family Album >
        • Video
    • 24 Movements Around the World >
      • Video
      • Commencing Form, Parting the Horse's Mane
      • White Crane Spreads its Wings
      • Brush Knee
      • Playing the Lute
      • Repulsing the Monkey
      • Grasping the Bird's Tail
      • Single Whip, Cloud Hands
      • Kick Out, Double Punch
      • Serpent in the Grass
      • Maiden Working Her Shuttles
      • Needle at the Bottom of the Sea
      • Flash Arms like a Fan, Turn, Deflect, Parry and Punch
      • Apparent Closing, Cross Hands, Closing Form
    • everydaytaichi friends & students spread their everydaytaichi aloha around the world >
      • the Chuns' Niu Valley Boulder Removal Project 9-2011
  • Special Events
    • everydaytaichi celebrates >
      • everydaytaichi.org is 10 Years Old!
      • World Tai Chi Day 2020
      • World Tai Chi Day 2019
      • World Tai Chi Day 2018
      • World Tai Chi Day 2017
      • everydaytaichi lucy hosts Prof. Li Deyin at Kilauea Park
      • everydaytaichi.org is 8YO, Lucy's Mother's 101
      • everydaytaichi lucy & ken celebrate Brennan's Kalani Graduation 2016
      • everydaytaichi lucy celebrates 3rd annual World Tai Chi Day at Kahala Mall
      • lucy Family Reunion to celebrate 70th
      • everydaytaichi lucy celebrates her 70th
      • everydaytaichi lucy celebrates 2nd annual World Tai Chi Day at Kahala Mall
      • everydaytaichi lucy & ken celebrate Justine's Iolani Graduation 2015
      • everydaytaichi lucy featured at the Mayor's Summit on Living Age Friendly
      • everydaytaichi lucy: Guest Speaker for Her Sorority
      • Lucy's Premier Show Private Party
      • Happy New Year Tai Chi at Kapiolani Park, Waikiki, Hawaii
      • December 30, A Day of Multiple Celebrations
      • Merry Christmas from the Chun Family
      • Merry Christmas from Luk Tung Kuen Kahala Mall
      • Merry Christmas to Our Tai Chi Friends
      • Happy Birthday Sophia Lucille Chun!
      • everydaytaichi lucy "Rookie of the Year" Award
      • everydaytaichi.org celebrates our 4th anniversary
      • everydaytaichi.org celebrates from 10-07-10
      • everydaytaichi lucy hosts Yomeiji Taikyokuken Shikoku Chuo Tai Chi Club
      • everydaytaichi lucy celebrates World Tai Chi Day 2014 Kahala Mall
      • everydaytaichi by lucy celebrates family >
        • Thanksgiving 2014
        • Mother's Day 2014
        • Thanksgiving 2013
        • everydaytaichi by ken celebrates Gungie's Day
        • everydaytaichi by ken celebrates Father's Day
        • everydaytaichi by lucy celebrates Mother's Day
        • Double Celebration: Birthday + Easter
        • Christmas Gift 2012 >
          • Merry Christmas from Tai Tai
          • Happy Holidays from everydaytaichi students
          • Christmas Gift 2011
        • Thanksgiving 2012 >
          • Thanksgiving
          • Family Album
          • everydaytaichi Mother's Day in L.A., California
          • Black Friday
          • 10-10-10 October 10, 2010
      • Lucy, a life long learner >
        • Visitors from Japan Play Tai Chi at Kilauea Park
        • Makapuu Hike Ka Iwi Trail Jan. 2015
        • everydaytaichi Black Friday Special
        • everydaytaichi students at Mayor Country & Craft Fair
        • everydaytaichi student Dr. Joseph Young is the Mayor of Chinatown
        • everydaytaichi lucy \\"Rookie of the Year\\" Award
        • everydaytaichi lucy & ken welcome the Polynesian ship, the Hokulea at Maunaloa Bay in Hawaii Kai
        • everydaytaichi lucy speaks on Luk Tung Kuen and Tai Chi Hawaii COPD Seminar
        • Labor Day Monday at Aina Koa Park NON Instructional Tai Chi
        • everydaytaichi by lucy presentation:Lion's Club Hawaii District 50
        • Hawaii Celebrates World Tai Chi-Chi Kung Day
        • everydaytaichi by lucy on KITV News
        • Going Green
        • Fourth of July
        • Another day...another year
        • Pussywillows in Hawaii
        • Lucy's Personal Project >
          • Tai Chi at Hillsdale Mall
        • Teaching Tai Chi at Central Park >
          • Gallery
        • Niu Valley Boulder Project >
          • Breaking News
          • Gallery
          • Videos
        • Aloha, Genie
      • Luk Tung Kuen Around the World >
        • Luk Tung Kuen 2014 Easter at Kahala Mall
        • Luk Tung Kuen 2013 Christmas at Kahala Mall
        • Luk Tung Kuen Kahala Mall after Thanksgiving
        • Luk Tung Kuen Evelyn at Kahala Mall
        • Luk Tung Kuen Celebrates Irene's 100th Birthday
        • Luk Tung Kuen at Christmas Kahala Mall
        • Luk Tung Kuen Hawaii Kahala Mall with Our Centenarian
        • Luk Tung Kuen in Hong Kong
        • Luk Tung Kuen in San Mateo
        • Luk Tung Kuen at Christmas Kahala Mall 2012
        • Lucy & Evelyn do LTK Kahala Mall Xmas
        • Lucy does LTK at San Mateo, California
        • Luk Tung Kuen Hawaii Christmas 2011 Special
      • Ken's Retirement >
        • everydaytaichi ken celebrates his big 7-0
        • Narcissus Bulb Cutlture everydaytaichi ken >
          • Ken's Narcissus Culturing for Chinese New Year
          • Narcissus Bulb Crab Claw Culture
          • Narcissus Bulb Cutlture Long Stem Traditional Style
          • Narcissus Bulb Culture 2013
          • Narcissus for Chinese New Year
        • Fishing Tales
        • Tako Tales
        • Tako and Fishing Tales
        • Mixed Plate, a Potpourri of Carpentry, Landscaping, Gardening + More >
          • Reconnecting with a Friend
        • Family Album >
          • Kwock Family Reunion Picnic at Bellows AFB
  • everydaytaichi4U
    • Everydaytaichi Home Style Practice
    • Tai Chi Basics
    • Lucy's Home Studio Lessons
    • Kilauea Park Classes >
      • Yang 10 Form Tuesday 10AM
      • Yang 16 Thursdays 9AM
      • Yang 24 Thursday 1015AM
      • Yang Style: 10, 16 & 24 Forms
      • Yang 88
    • Proper Alignment & Key Words >
      • Tai Chi Walk
      • Commencing Form, Part Horse's Mane
      • White Crane Spreads its Wings
      • Brush Knee
      • Playing the Lute
      • Repulsing the Monkey
      • Grasping the Bird's Tail
      • Single Whip
      • Cloud Hands
      • High Pat on the Horse, Kick Out Right
      • Double Punch
      • Kick out Left
      • Serpent in the Grass, Golden Cockerel
      • Maiden Works her Shuttles
      • Needle at the Bottom of the Sea
      • Flash Arms like a Fan
      • Turn, Deflect, Parry and Punch
      • Apparent Closing
      • Cross Hands
      • Closing Form
    • Refinement: Coordinating Body Movements + Breathing >
      • Lesson #1: Tai Chi Walk, Movements thru Single Whip
      • Lesson #2: Single Whip thru Closing Form
      • Lesson #3: Shift, Rotate, Spiral
      • Lesson #4: Complete Elements in Movement at Same Time
      • Lesson #5: Coordinate, Shift, Rotate, Spiral, Synchronize Elements
      • Lesson #6: Repulse Monkey, Grasp Bird's Tail, Cloud Hands
      • Lesson #7: Cloud Hands, Maiden works Shuttles, Turn Deflect
      • Lesson #8: High Pat on Horse thru Serpent, Golden Cockerel
      • Lesson #9: Needle at Bottom of Sea, Flash Arms, Turn Deflect...Closing Form
      • Lesson #10: Turn Deflect Parry Punch, Apparent Closing...
      • Lesson #11: Turn Deflect..., Apparent Closing, Cross Hands, Closing Form
      • Lesson #12: more refinement of Turn Deflect & Repulsing the Monkey
    • YouTube channels: everydaytaichi4u + MORE
    • YouTube Playlist for 24 Movements
    • YouTube Playlist for Yang 10 Form
    • Yang Style Tai Chi 24 Movements Called Out
    • Warm Up Exercise
    • Tai Chi Posture, Tai Chi Walk
    • Yang Style Tai Chi Back View >
      • Grasping the Bird's Tail thru Cloud Hands, Single Whip Back View
      • Single Whip High Pat on Horse, Kick Outs, Double Punch Front Back View
      • Serpent in Grass, Golden Cockerel Front & Back View
      • Serpent, Golden Cockerel, Maiden, Needle, Flash Arms thru Closing
    • 24 Movements Slideshow >
      • Commencing Form, Parting the Horse's Mane
      • White Crane Spreads its Wings
      • Brush Knee
      • Playing the Lute
      • Repulsing the Monkey
      • Grasping the Bird's Tail
      • Single Whip, Cloud Hands
      • High Pat on the Horse, Kick Out, Double Punch
      • Serpent in the Grass, Golden Cockerel
      • Maiden Working the Shuttles
      • Needle at the Bottom of the Sea
      • Flash Arms Like a Fan, Turn, Deflect, Parry, Punch
      • Apparent Closing, Cross Hands, Closing Form
      • everydaytaichi students travel and keep tai chi alive!
    • Chi Kung & Tai Chi Music
    • everydaytaichi DVDs & CDs by lucy chun
  • Testimony
    • everydaytaichi students' personal opinions
    • everydaytaichi students expression of gratitude
    • everydaytaichi students' insights
    • everydaytaichi is appreciative for...
    • everydaytaichi friends around the world
  • Classes
    • NEW Tai Chi Classes Kilauea District Park
    • Locations >
      • Where is Kilauea District Park?
      • What Bus Do I Catch?
    • Types of everydaytaichi classes by lucy chun >
      • Levels of Classes/ Registration Info
      • NEW Tai Chi Classes Kilauea District Park
      • Spring 2016 Add On Classes
      • ADD On REFINEMENT Classes: Kilauea Park Between Regular Sessions
      • Tai Chi Aina Koa Non-Instructional Session
      • Tai Chi Kilauea Park Non-Instructional Session
      • Tai Chi Kahala Park Non Instructional Session
      • Tai Chi NVMS Non Instructional Session
      • Private Lesson 1 on 1 Lesson
    • Luk Tung Kuen >
      • Luk Tung Kuen Slideshow
      • Luk Tung Kuen 2014 Easter at Kahala Mall
      • Luk Tung Kuen Christmas at Kahala Mall
      • Luk Tung Kuen Kahala Mall after Thanksgiving
      • Luk Tung Kuen Hawaii Kai Welcomes the Hokulea
      • Luk Tung Kuen Evelyn at Kahala Mall
      • Health Benefits of LTK 36 Movements
      • Luk Tung Kuen at Kilauea District Park, Honolulu, Hawaii
      • Luk Tung Kuen Celebrates Irene's 100th Birthday
      • Luk Tung Kuen at Christmas Kahala Mall
      • Luk Tung Kuen Instructions for Exercise
      • Luk Tung Kuen Led by Students Kahala Mall Honolulu, Hawaii
      • everydaytaichi students also do LTK
  • Contact
  • New Page

Harvard Gazette: The Balance in Healthy Aging by everydaytaichi lucy, Honolulu, Hawaii

5/27/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
The balance in healthy aging To grow old well requires minimizing accidents, such as falling, as well as ailments
April 25, 2017 | Editor's Pick Audio/Video Popular
By Liz Mineo, Harvard Staff Writer 
EmailTwitterFacebookFourth in an occasional series on how Harvard researchers are tackling the problematic issues of aging.
The morning light is pouring into the senior living community in Canton, where six residents are performing an exquisite choreography of sweeping, lyrical movements, emulating their Tai chi instructor.
“Wave hands like clouds,” urges Kerry Paulhus, leading them in the classic low-impact and slow-motion exercises of the ancient Chinese martial art. With relaxing music playing in the background, the students shift their weight from one leg to the other, turn their waists, and rotate their arms as if they indeed were clouds.
When class ended, Elaine Seidenberg and Fran Rogovin, both 84 and close friends for four years, were glowing.
“Tai chi calms me down and has lowered my blood pressure,” said Rogovin at Orchard Cove, a facility that is part of Hebrew SeniorLife. “It’s just amazing what Tai chi has done for me.”
“In class, we wave hands like clouds,” agreed Seidenberg, a former Cape Cod resident. “And after class, we walk on clouds.”
While Tai chi may offer senior practitioners inner peace, scientists also value it for its fundamental, physical benefits. In addition to improving balance, flexibility, and mental agility, it also reduces falls, the largest preventable cause of death and injury among older adults. One way to help the aging have long and vital lives, researchers say, is to help protect them from injuries or worse.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three older adults falls dangerously each year. In 2014, about 27,000 older adults died from falls, more than 2.8 million were treated in emergency rooms, and 800,000 were hospitalized. Falls are the leading cause of death among adults over 65, and the death rate from them has soared in the past decade.
Over more than 30 years, researchers at the Institute for Aging Research have been studying what causes these falls among the elderly, and how to prevent them. The institute was started at Hebrew SeniorLife 50 years ago to take advantage of the proximity to senior residents living nearby, said Lew Lipsitz, institute director and chief academic officer.

Graphic by Judy Blomquist/Harvard StaffHebrew SeniorLife, a senior health care and housing organization affiliated with Harvard Medical School (HMS), serves 3,000 seniors in nine residential communities throughout Boston. One of a kind, the Harvard affiliate is the only long-term chronic care teaching hospital in the United States. The resulting access by researchers to seniors and their everyday lives provides a major boost to the real-time value of their research.
“Researchers really enjoy working here,” said Lipsitz, who is also chief of the Gerontology Division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professor of medicine at HMS, “because in fact it is an environment where researchers can identify the problems they want to study and apply studies to solve those problems.”
When Lipsitz began working at the institute in 1980 as one of the first Harvard fellows in geriatric medicine, he noticed that many residents fell frequently. His area of research was born.
Lipsitz directs the institute’s Center for Translational Research in Mobility and Falls. The center has led a number of groundbreaking studies on reducing the risk of falls among older adults, ranging from the benefits of Tai chi, to the role of high blood pressure in falls, to the use of electrical stimulation to the brain to aid executive functions, to the benefit of vitamin D to increase bone density.
Many of these studies over time were funded by the National Institute on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health.
Lipsitz calls tai chi one of the most “exciting” interventions because it benefits both balance and mobility. It aids the muscular system, coordination, equilibrium, and the brain. In 2010, researchers at the institute ran a 12-week intervention, in which seniors practiced Tai chi twice a week. At the end of the trial, the investigators compared balance and mobility of those who did Tai chi to seniors who just sat in on the classes. “And lo and behold, Tai chi not only their improved gait and balance but improved their overall functional ability,” said Lipsitz. “If we could put Tai chi in a pill, everybody would take it. But unfortunately you actually have to practice it to have an effect.”
A study by Lipsitz, Brad Manor, and other researchers concluded that Tai chi training “may be a safe and effective therapy to help improve physical function.” The Arthritis Foundation now recommends Tai chi because it reduces stress and arthritis pain. (A study led by Fuzhong Li of the Oregon Research Institute, which examined results of a Tai chi program offered in 36 senior centers in 4 Oregon counties between 2012 and 2016, showed a 49 percent reduction in the number of falls and improved physical performance.)
It’s a simple fact that balance — the ability to maintain the body’s center of mass, located in the chest area, over the base of support or the feet — declines with age. Maintaining and bolstering it requires more than strong bones and firm muscles.
“Social stimulation is an important part of our health, and this tends to decrease with aging. The social aspect of Tai chi becomes incredibly powerful, which helps with the enjoyment.”
— Brad Manor
“It’s not just a physical task; it’s also a mental task,” said Manor, director of the institute’s mobility and brain function lab, and an HMS assistant professor of medicine.
“We have to use our memory for the information that tells us how to perform the task of walking,” said Manor, “and we have to make decisions to slow down if there’s an icy road or the lighting is poor. So we need to use our attention, memory, and decision-making, which are all cognitive functions. It’s a very complex system that involves processes that take place in the brain.”
Because Tai chi requires attention, memory, and learning components to master its physical movements, its benefits go beyond improving mobility and reducing falls, the researchers say. It increases cognitive and mental functions and mindfulness. It also promotes social interaction because Tai chi is often practiced in a group setting.
“Social stimulation is an important part of our health, and this tends to decrease with aging,” said Manor. “The social aspect of Tai chi becomes incredibly powerful, which helps with the enjoyment. People really like it. It doesn’t really matter if you have a new intervention that may be more effective if people don’t enjoy doing it.”
In his lab, Manor studies the links between brain function and balance and falls. As part of his research, he monitors movements of participants while they walk and perform other mentally aware tasks such as counting backwards by threes, in what he calls a “dual-task assessment.” Often, falls among older adults happen when they’re walking while performing other tasks, because they get distracted and lose their balance.
“Walking is a cognitive task, and if we’re doing another cognitive task, like talking, one of the tasks will be diminished,” said Manor. “We’re studying how dual tasking interferes with losing balance. In one of the studies, we were able to demonstrate that people who did Tai chi improved their ability to walk and perform an additional cognitive task.”
Balance also depends on the ability to have feeling in the feet, which decreases as people age. Scientists at the institute partnered with the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard to develop a vibratory shoe insole, a device that sends tiny signals to people’s feet, which a study led by Lipsitz showed improved gait and balance. “It’s not available to the public,” Lipsitz said, “but this is a promising area of research.”
Institute scientists are also studying the effects of electrical stimulation to the brain region that control mobility, balance, and dual tasking. “It’s like taking a small battery and applying it to your forehead,” said Lipsitz. “Someday, I’ll be sitting at the desk feeling tired, perhaps after a meal, and all I’d have to do is attach a ‘battery’ to my forehead to get a boost.”
Even as research continues, falls remain a major, rising worry. In 2015, the financial toll from falls among older adults amounted to $31 billion, and the costs are expected to increase as life expectancy grows. In 2014, the population of U.S. seniors was 46 million, and by 2030 more than 20 percent of the country’s population is projected to be 65 and older. Beyond the financial costs, falls can dramatically undercut seniors’ lives in ways ranging to dependence, depression, isolation, and loneliness.
As for Rogovin and Seidenberg, neither has fallen since she began practicing Tai chi, three and two years ago, respectively. Both live an active life at Orchard Cove. While they also practice yoga and meditation, they rave about how Tai chi has enriched their lives.
“It keeps me mindful of what I’m doing,” said Rogovin, who taught students with learning disabilities in Newton and Brookline for 30 years. “It relaxes me and helps my thinking.”
Seidenberg agreed. She especially cherishes the positive effects on her mental wellbeing. Tai chi not only helps her cope with the stress of dealing with her husband’s Alzheimer’s disease, but it makes her feel better.
“When I come out, I feel at peace with myself and the world,” she said. “Somehow when we age, we become less coordinated and a bit more clumsy, but I feel more graceful.”
SCIENCE & HEALTH  >  HEALTH & MEDICINE
 Part of Gazette Topic:  TACKLING ISSUES OF AGING

​Click here to see a video clip.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Lucy's BLOG

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Copyright 2009 vmnproduction

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.