Kong, Lingjun, Ren, Jun, Fang, Sitong et al. · Journal of global health · 2023 · DOI
This research review looked at whether traditional Chinese exercises like Tai Chi and Qigong help people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Researchers combined results from 13 studies involving 1,187 patients and found that these exercises probably reduce fatigue, depression, and anxiety compared to doing nothing, and may improve sleep and thinking ability. However, the benefits seem to fade over time, and these exercises work about as well as other active treatments like standard exercise programs.
For ME/CFS patients seeking non-pharmacological treatment options, this review provides evidence that traditional Chinese mind-body exercises may offer measurable improvements in fatigue, mood, and sleep quality compared to no treatment. For researchers, it identifies gaps in long-term outcomes and highlights the need for higher-quality, longer-duration trials to establish the sustainability of benefits.
This review does not establish whether TCME is superior to conventional exercise programs or other standard therapies—it shows similar effectiveness at best. The studies had short follow-up periods (≤12 weeks), so this review cannot confirm whether improvements are sustained long-term or represent lasting changes in CFS pathophysiology. The moderate-to-low certainty of evidence means stronger conclusions require further research.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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