Effects of Qigong Therapy on the Anaerobic Threshold in Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Author: Fengrun Zhao1, Chen Liang2, Christopher John Zaslawski3, Zhenyu Cao1
Affiliation:
1 College of Acupuncture and Massage, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China.
2 Institute of Sports Medicine, General Administration of Sport of China, Beijing 100061, China.
3 University of Technology, Sydney 2007, Australia.
Conference/Journal: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
Date published: 2022 Sep 14
Other: Volume ID: 2022 , Pages: 5690569 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1155/2022/5690569. , Word Count: 209


Objective:
This study aims to identify whether Qigong (QG) rehabilitation therapy can significantly improve the cardiac function of patients with stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) compared with routine therapy. Thus, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the curative effects of a three-month QG rehabilitation therapy on cardiac rehabilitation. Patients and Methods. In this trial, a total of 68 patients with SCAD were randomly divided into the QG group (34 patients) and the control (CON) group (34 patients). Patients in the CON group received routine cardiologic medication without any special intervention. Based on the treatment in the CON group, patients in the QG group were provided additionally with a 12-week traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cardiac rehabilitation QG exercise training program. The outcomes of these patients were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks of intervention through the treadmill (anaerobic threshold (AT)) test.

Results:
After 12 weeks of intervention, the AT, volume of oxygen (VO2), oxygen uptake/kilogram (VO2/kg), metabolic equivalents (METS), and oxygen pulse (VO2/HR) of patients in the QG group were significantly higher than those of patients in the CON group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion:
QG therapy can achieve certain curative effects and safety for patients with SCAD. This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov identifier (ChiCTR1800015823).


PMID: 36159553 PMCID: PMC9492355 DOI: 10.1155/2022/5690569

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