Among the organs apparently affected by Chi Gong are brain, heart, kidney and the immune system, with benefits being reported in senility, hypertension, stroke, asthma, blood chemistry and cancer.
The reported benefits of Qigong could be mediated by effects on immunological function and various aspects of immune function could perhaps be influenced by qi energy.
However, there have been only a few peer-reviewed publications describing alterations in the immune system activity as a result of practicing Qigong. The delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity responses were faster, stronger and more numerous in a Qigong trained group than a normal healthy group .Patients with aplastic anaemia treated with Qigong showed significant improvement in CD4+:CD8+ T-cell ratio, which also increased in newly recruited Qigong trainees after 5 months of practice .CD4:CD8 T-cell ratios and NK-cell activity tended to increase during a single 40-minute session of Chi Kung (Qigong) .
Various non-reviewed studies have described increased lymphocyte, neutrophil and natural killer (NK) cell functions in subjects practicing Qigong [see Extension of Life: Documentation on the Effects of Chi Kong Qigong (Edited by Zhang RM) Renming Tin Yue Press, China 1995.
Cytokines are highly labile effector glycoproteins which are crucially involved in afferent and efferent limbs of immune responses as pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory regulators in the body. Type 1 cytokines, such as interferon-gamma (IFNγ), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and interleukin (IL) 12 promote cell-mediated responses, while type 2 cytokines including IL4, IL6 and IL10, are anti-inflammatory and favour humoral responses [11,12].
Cell-mediated responses are important in protection against cancer, while overproduction of anti-inflammatory cytokines is potentially suppressive for anti-cancer immunity. The present pilot study was designed to investigate effects of Qigong on cytokine production in healthy volunteers and to determine whether further evaluation of its effects on the cytokine profiles of patients with cancer would be valuable. We measured production of the above 6 cytokines before Qigong training and for up to 14 weeks of performing the exercises. Significant increases in PHA-stimulated IFNγ:IL10 ratios were found indicating a shift towards cytokines favoring cell-mediated immunity.
Copyright © 2001 Jones; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC59661/
Chi Kong workshop
I am always happy to have more and more proof about how effective Chi Kong is in enhancing your health because for some people my experience alone is not enough proof :)
ReplyDelete