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Growing interest in the value of exercise training in patients with heart failure has led to studies of various adjunctive mind-body techniques, one of which is tai chi. Tai chi focuses on gentle meditative exercise, relaxation, balance training, breathing techniques, and visualization.
Boston investigators randomized 100 patients (mean age, 67) with heart failure (median New York Heart Association class, II) to twice-weekly sessions of tai chi (with encouragement to practice tai chi at home) or general education. Patients were assessed with standard cardiorespiratory fitness tests as well as disease-specific quality-of-life measures. At 12 weeks, no between-group differences in cardiac fitness or work capacity were noted, but the tai chi gr…