EFFECTS OF QIGONG ON CARDIORESPIRATORY CHANGES - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

Qigong, a special form of breathing exercise, was investigated to exam ine its effect on cardiorespiratory changes. Ten volunteers (five male s and five females) participated in a 20-minute group instructional se ssion for 10 consecutive days before testing of its treatment effects. The testing protocol followed a C1-T-C2 design, where C1, T, and C2 r epresented the first, treatment, and second control period, respective ly. Each period consisted of a 5-minute interval, and thus each testin g session consisted of 15 minutes. The results indicated there were no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) in heart rate or tidal volume for the three 5-minute periods. There was a significant decrea se (p<0.05) in respiratory exchange ratio between T and C2. A signific ant increase in ventilatory efficiency for carbon dioxide production w as found between C1 and T. Statistically significant differences (p<0. 05) were found in the volume of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide pro duced, frequency of breath, expired ventilation, and ventilatory effic iency for oxygen produced between the T and the two control periods. T his preliminary study of Qigong demonstrates that the subjects were ab le to learn the technique in a short period of time. The data also sug gest that, with an improvement of nearly 20% in ventilatory efficiency for oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production, this technique may h ave useful therapeutic value.