Qigong controls glucose in type 2 diabetes

It is rare to see a well designed, randomized controlled study on qigong, and it is nice to see that the benefits of this ancient health art are being shown by modern scientific studies.

This recent study, published in American journal ‘Daibetes Care’, looked at 251 adults with type 2 diabetes, and assigned them randomly to a qigong group, a control group or a progressive resistance training (PRT) group as an active comparison. Conventional diabetes care was continued at the same time.

After 12 weeks statistically significant reductions in plasma glucose levels were observed in the Qigong group, with a reduction found in every participant in this group. Fasting glucose of the Qigong group significantly improved compared with that of the PRT group and the control group.

The authors conclude that ‘Qigong therapy for 12 weeks resulted in significant reductions in fasting glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes and demonstrated trends toward improvement in insulin resistance and A1C. These results suggest that Qigong may be an effective complementary therapy for individuals with type 2 diabetes.’

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