Influence of Qigong on Blood Rheology in Patient with Radicular Cervical Spondylopathy

Objective: To fnd out the mechanism on blood rheology of Qigong in treating radicular cervical spondylopathy.
Methods: 44 cases of radicular spondylopathy were randomly assigned into observation group (26 cases, treated by Qigong and Chinese herb) and control group (18 cases, treated by simple Chinese herb). They all were outpatients according to the criterions established in the second national conference of Cervical Spondylosis
Shanghai Eight-step daoyin exercise and psychosomatic relaxation exercise were taken in the observation group, two times a day, 30~40 minutes each time. All subjects were outpatients. The criterions of effect score, based on the clinical symptom and physical sign, came from the Therapeutic Efficacy Criterion of Clinical Disease edited by the Health ministry of the PLA’s rear service.
Results: After 10 days, there showed no significant difference of therapeutic efficacy between two groups. As time went on, the difference became more and more significant. 30-day treatment later, the clinical effective rate was higher in observation group than in control group (P<0.05); the clinical integral reduced more obviously in observation group than in control group (P<0.01); the indexes of blood rheology (including high sheer viscosity, lowsheer viscosity, highsheer reduction viscosity, aggregation index of RBC and stiffness index) improved better in observation group than in control group (P<0.05~0.01).
Conclusion:
1. It took a period of time for Qigong practice to have effect on the patients.
2. The results indicated that Qigong probably exerted it’s the therapeutic effects on radicular cervcical spondylopathy by improving the blood rheology.