Qigong and AIDS

In the article "Meditation, T-Cells, Anxiety, Depression, and HIV infection," William Koar, Ph.D. wrote, the practice of meditation, specifically Qigong, was hypothesized as being helpful to HIV-infected individuals. The intervention was assumed to be stress-reducing. Anxiety, depression and T-cell counts were measured. A statistically significant increase in T-cells and a statistically significant decrease in anxiety and depression were found. A control group was not included in this study.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Wen-hsien Wu, M.D. is professor of anesthesiology/pain medicine and the director of the Pain Management Center in Newark, New Jersey. The article, "The Effects of Qigong on Late-stage Complex Regional Pain Syndrome," was published in "Alternative Therapies" in January 1999.

Dr. Wu studied patients who were taught to practice Qigong and patients who were taught an exercise that resembled Qigong (the control group). After ten weeks, "91% of the Qigong patients reported a transient drop in pain compared to only 36% of the controls. A long-term reduction in anxiety in patients suffering from treatment-resistant CRPS-I was found."