Qigong is said to induce in its practitioners an altered state of consciousness resulting in relief of stress. Release of catecholamines (CAs) has been associated widely with stress. Thus, it is possible that the activity of sympathetic-adrenal medulla system could be altered by practicing qigong. The excretion of urinary CAs is an useful index of the activity of sympathetic-adrenal medulla system. In order to explore the physiological mechanism of qigong, the effects of qigong on excretion of urinary CAs were observed in this experiment.

One hundred and eleven persons with average age of 52 (male 59, female 52) were used as subjects, urinary adrenaline (A) and noradrenaline (NA) were measured in all of these subjects during qigong and during control rest in this experiment.

The results showed that the excretion of urinary A increased in all kinds of qigong group, but significant increase was observed only in Da Yan Gong group. Excretion of NA increased as well, significant increase were observed only in Da Yan Gong and Lao Zi Quan Zhen Gong group (Table 1 and 2). The practicing time for qigong maybe associated with the increase of CAs during practicing qigong. Significant increase of A was observed in those subjects who have practiced qigong more than two years (Table 3).

Table 1 CHANGE URINARY ADRENALINE DURING QIGONG

KINDS OF QIGONG NO OF NONQIGONG QIGONG P
SUBJECTS PERIOD PERIOD
DA YANG GONG 19 2.1±1.3 2.9±2.0 <0.05
YANG QI GONG 34 2.1±1.5 2.6±2.3 NS
CHAN MI GONG 10 2.4±1.2 2.9±2.7 NS
ZHAN ZHUANG GONG 36 1.6±l.0 2.0±l.4 NS
LAO ZI QUAN ZHEN GONG 7 1.3±0.9 1.8±l.9 NS
ZHEN QI YUN XING GONG 5 0.9±0.5 1.5±1.1 NS

Table 2 CHANGE OF URINARY NORADRENALINE DURING QIGONG (nmole/hr)

KINDS OF QIGONG NO OF NONQIGONG QIGONG P
SUBJECTS PERIOD PERIOD
DA YAN GONG 19 6.5±3.4 7.7±3.5 <0.05
YANG QI GONG 34 7.4±3.6 8.3±3.3 NS
CHAN MI GONG 10 9.6±4.8 12.4±5.4 NS
ZHAN ZHUANG GONG 36 8.6±4.4 9.7±4.9 NS
ZHEN QI YUN ZING GONG 5 6.8±2.0 8.l±2.3 NS
LAO ZI QUAN ZHEN GONG 7 7.0±1.8 11.2±3.2 NS

Table 3 CHANGES OF CAS IN SUBJECTS WITH DIFFERENT PRACTICING TIME (nmole/hr)

KINDS OF PRACTICING NO OF ADRENALINE NORADRENALINE
QIGONG TIME SUBJECTS NON-QG QIGONG NON-QG QIGONG
YANG QI >2 YRS 16 2.4±1.5 3.4±2.5* 8.8±4.1 9.1±2.5
<2 YRS 18 1.7±l.2 1.9±l.9 6.1±2.5 7.6±3.8
ZHAN ZHUANG >2 YRS 17 1.2±O.7 2.1±1.4** 8.7±4.6 9.0±4.9
<2 YRS 19 l.9±l.0 l.9±l.4 8.6±4.4 10.4±4.9
* P<0.05 ** P<0.01

All of these results show that the excretion of CAs tend to increase whatever the kinds of qigong were practiced.

Although no significant increase was observed in some kinds of qigong, but no one of them decreased. It appears that the increase of CAs was related to the practicing time for qigong in addition to Yan Qigong and Zhan Zhuang Gong, significant increase of CAs during practicing qigong was observed in the 19 subjects of Da Yan Gong who have practiced qigong on an average of one year and 11 months. It suggests that the excretion of CA increased significantly in experienced qigong practitioners.

As the exeretion of CAs was lower during rest and sleeping, these results mentioned above suggest that qigong is not a simple rest or relaxation state but an active process of influence on physiological function in organism. The data also suggest that qigong seems not to be a more parasympathetic function state, but also enhances sympathetic activity.

Effects on qigong on excretion of urinary catecholamines