Stanford to Research T’ai Chi

Prepared by Roberta Taggart, VFJ Staff

From: The Times, January 6, 1997. Bay Area/California Section. Entitled, Stanford Project Seeks to Assess Unorthodox Ways to Prevent Aging, by Tom Philp of Scripps-McClatchy News Service

Synopsis: This article describes the federally funded study to be conducted at Stanford University in an effort to research unconventional forms of medicine to be incorporated into the Stanford Corporate Health Program.

Excerpts: When the federal government gave nearly $1 million to Stanford University medical professor William Haskell to find ways to slow the human aging process, it attached only one string: He had to go beyond where traditional research stopped. Haskell agreed to limit himself to unconventional medicine’s unproven pills, meditation techniques, exercises and diets. Stanford’s major foray into merging conventional and unconventional forms of medicine mirrors a national trend by millions of consumers who are already devising their own blends of care.

Blending approaches: Stanford is among 10 institutions to receive the first federal funds for research on how to blend conventional and unconventional forms of medicine for specific medical conditions. As a cutting-edge provider of health care for the Bay Area, Stanford also plans to open a clinic to begin providing patients a wide array of unconventional therapies, according to Kenneth Pelletier, director of the Stanford Corporate Health Program.

No fountain of youth: But this is no quest by Stanford for a fountain of youth. Rather the search is for unusual but effective weapons against the symptoms of aging … Are the slow, graceful health exercises that have been popular in China for a few thousand years just as beneficial as the ’90’s system of spandex and sweat known as aerobics?

Traditional research has focused more on treating the ailments of aging than on preventing or delaying them through diet and exercise.

“There is no systematic strategy, at any level of the practice of medicine, to promote successful aging in this country,” said Haskell, deputy director of Stanford’s Center for Research in Disease Prevention. Given that half of Americans can now expect to live to the age of 85, “our challenge is getting them to 85 in good shape, extending both the number days and the number if disability-free days,” said Haskell.

Looking for plausibility: That is why he [Haskell] is sticking to “therapies in which there’s some biologic plausibility.”

Tapping the expertise of various researchers on campus, Haskell is devising some sophisticated anti-aging studies. The first two will test some ancient lifestyle techniques of the East against those of the modern West.

Measurements sought: Using a special device mounted on eyeglasses, for example, Haskell plans to precisely measure everyone’s balance to test a theory that those practicing the Chinese exercises end up improving their balance, thus reducing the chances of fractures.

In addition, “T’ai Chi masters view the exercise as mind/body relaxation and stress reduction,” said Haskell. Stanford plans to monitor a component in every participant’s saliva that is a known indicator of stress.

Potential to aid the frail: If the Chinese exercises measure up in Stanford’s tests to more strenuous forms of exercising, Haskell sees the biggest payoff for seniors who feel they are too frail for something vigorous. “The low-impact nature of the t’ai chi-type exercises might allow them to be performed on a more frequent basis.” He said.