(Sorry this is so long!)This article was published a while back:

Alternative medicine: Think outside the pillbox By John C. Drake, Atlanta
Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA - When the treatment seems worse than the disease, patients start
looking for alternatives.

Annette Adams' search began after she learned she had Parkinson's disease in
her late 30s. It forced the mother and software consultant into early
retirement, but she was worried about taking the serious medications that
can intensify the tremors associated with the disease.

Her search led her to Emory University researchers who are using federal
money to test whether mind-body techniques, such as tai chi and meditation,
are as effective as medication in improving muscle control and balance for
Parkinson's patients.

"I want to avoid the more severe drugs for as long as possible," she said.

The Emory research reflects a growing trend in medicine away from total
dependence on drugs, surgery and radiation so that doctors can incorporate
more alternative methods. Critics most often note there is not enough
reputable research into whether herbal remedies, mind-body techniques,
spirituality and even music therapy are as good as or even better than
traditional medical practices.

That's why a center at the National Institutes of Health is throwing a
growing portion of its research dollars at projects like Emory's. Since
1992, federal funding for the NIH's alternative medicine center has
increased from $2 million a year to more than $100 million, leading the
effort to build the body of scientific evidence necessary to validate or
shoot down alternative practices.

As many as seven in 10 Americans say they regularly use some form of
unconventional health care, according to a Harvard University study.

"I think people, more and more, are recognizing that you don't want to be a
slab of meat on the surgeon's table," said Jackie Wootton, director of the
Maryland-based Alternative Medicine Foundation. "It's so disempowering just
to take a drug."

Emory researchers are attempting to add to the body of evidence supporting
alternative care by comparing to aerobic exercise the effect of two Chinese
martial arts on the symptoms and signs of Parkinson's disease -- the
condition that has affected Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali. Millions of
dollars have gone into research on traditional treatments ranging from
improved prescription medications to deep-brain stimulation, a type of brain
surgery.

Emory research already has shown that aerobic exercise can help muscle
control for Parkinson's patients. Scientists now want to know whether that
improvement is a result of improved physical fitness or a change in the
brain's signals to the muscles. If exercise can improve the brain's signals,
martial arts also might have that effect, researchers say.

They are recruiting Parkinson's patients and separating them into three
groups. One group is put through an exercise regimen that is strictly
physical, like walking and running on a treadmill. A second group will learn
tai chi chuan, a slow-movement martial art that focuses on balance and
coordination. The third group will learn qi gong, a meditative practice,
similar to yoga, that involves very little movement.

Scientists hope the research will show that traditional Eastern methods of
mind-body control can improve patients' confidence by altering the way they
control their movement.

Dr. Jorge Juncos, an Emory neurologist who is the study's principal
investigator, said American medicine traditionally has focused on finding
the right medicine to fix individual problems, while Eastern practices have
focused on ensuring balance and harmony throughout the body. This has fed a
sort of "East vs. West" mentality in medical research, he said.

"It's a product of how we have viewed our own health ," Juncos said. "The
system is focusing too much on disease."

But this appears to be changing, as more doctors encourage patients to
actively participate in their treatment and incorporate complementary
tactics.

"I think there is a reconciling that can be done, but there is a need to
provide objective evidence," Juncos said.

The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is
funding the study and dozens of others nationwide. The center's efforts
gradually have gained more respect and interest in the medical community
since it opened as the Office of Alternative Medicine in 1992 with a budget
of $2 million.

"The hostility toward the Office of Alternative Medicine was enormous," said
Wootton, who worked in the office when it opened.

In addition to the study comparing tai chi, qi gong and aerobic exercise,
which received $1.1 million in NIH funds, Emory also is using federal money
for two other Parkinson's-related studies. One study, garnering a $760,000
NIH grant, is examining magnetic stimulation in treating depression, which
affects nearly half of all Parkinson's patients. The third Emory study,
funded with $898,000 from NIH, is tracking the effects of an herbal root
called valerian on sleep disturbances in Parkinson's patients.

For many doctors, the distinction between conventional and alternative
medicine is beginning to blur, as patients incorporate better nutrition and
exercise into their lives.

Dr. Ladd McNamara, an Alpharetta, Ga., gynecologist, said he has been
encouraging his patients to use natural soy-based hormones and vitamins and
minerals for years, though he doesn't consider this alternative medicine. He
prefers to call it the "new wave" of traditional medicine.

"This is the way medicine is going," he said. "It's going to preventative
medicine and nutritional medicine."

Other research projects across the country that the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine is funding include studies of
acupuncture, high-intensity light therapy, spirituality, botanicals and yoga
in addition to the Chinese exercises being studied at Emory.

In some cases, like Parkinson's, alternatives are being investigated because
conventional treatments have so little to offer patients.

Parkinson's is a progressive disorder leading to the degeneration of nerve
cells in the brain. It inhibits balance and muscle control and affects more
than 1 million people in the United States, according to the American
Parkinson Disease Association.

The most common treatment is medication, including levodopa (L-dopa), which
is used to treat symptoms but does not curb the disease's progression. It
also has some side effects, and its effectiveness decreases with time.

"Modern medicine can't help Parkinson's disease patients, so you have to go
back to nature," said Dr. Tingsen Xu, an associate professor at Emory and
tai chi chuan grandmaster.

Annette Adams' battle with Parkinson's began in her late 30s, when she first
noticed a tremor in her left hand and began having trouble typing. Doctors
initially offered other explanations, but after her symptoms worsened, they
diagnosed Parkinson's in May 2001.

Uncomfortable with the potential side effects of drugs, she volunteered for
several studies at Emory's Center for Research on Complementary and
Alternative Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases. In exchange for the free
therapy, participants agree to follow the requirements of the program.

"The complementary stuff is not a cure," Adams said. "I'm looking for
something to help me move. L-dopa makes us move so much that we can't
control it."

Researchers are completing the first of three phases in the study. In each
phase, participants are randomly placed in one of the three classes with
eight to 10 students per class. The classes last 16 weeks and patients'
coordination and fitness are checked throughout the study. They are
recruiting now for the second phase.

Even if the project fulfills the hopes of its researchers, they do not
anticipate mind/body techniques ever replacing medicinal treatments. But if
tai chi and qi gong prove effective at stemming the symptoms of Parkinson's
disease, it could mean decreasing dependence on these medications.

For the study, Juncos enlisted the help of two Atlanta researchers with
experience teaching martial arts: Xu for tai chi and Dr. Ron Milestone for
qi gong.

"It would be just as easy to increase medication, but in the long run, all
medications wear out in effect," Milestone said.

Researchers hope to have a final assessment of their research by next year.

Cox News Service, July 30, 2002
http://www.coxnews.com/newsservice/stories/2002/0730-ALT-MED-COX.html
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The research must have had favorable results, because they are recruiting
for Phase II/III presently:
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00029809?order=30

Here's a little background:
The long-term goal of this project is to study the effects of different
exercise modalities on Parkinson's disease (PD). PD is a disorder whose
primary disability stems from motor dysfunction including balance. Recent
studies have shown that the risk of falling in the elderly can be reduced
through the practice of the Chinese complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM) such as T'ai Chi Chuan (TCC). This finding may be highly significant
to PD. Although a recent report from Emory suggests PD patients can do well
with aerobic (walk-run) exercise training (AET), it is still unclear whether
the potential anti-Parkinsonian effect of such modalities is secondary to
improved physical fitness (CRF), motor control or both. CAM interventions
such as TCC may offer a unique opportunity to examine these fundamental
questions.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom and Ro Mail" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 10:30 PM
Subject: Yoga or Tai Chi?


> My wife's neurologist started talking to her about taking yoga or Tai Chi
to improve balance and a sense of where her body is.  How has it helped
others.  Does anyone have any pros or cons or recommendations of
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to:
mailto:[log in to unmask]
> In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
> one or the other?

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn