CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Lu N, Ferrauiola W, Smith J, Rusiewicz A.
Efficacy of a traditional Chinese medicine based lifestyle
intervention for weight loss.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine anna.rusiewicz@mssm.edu
Overweight and obesity have reached epidemic proportions
among adult and youth populations throughout the US and are on the rise
globally. These conditions are associated with increased likelihood
of insulin resistance, a pathway to the development of type 2 diabetes.
Given the compelling empirical support from the large-scale multi-site
Diabetes Prevention Program clinical trial indicating that increased
physical activity and dietary change are more efficacious than pharmacological
approaches to prevention of diabetes, Traditional Chinese Medicine's
(TCM) emphasis on prevention of chronic diseases by facilitating individually
tailored wellness plans that include physical activity (qigong energy
movements) and dietary change (foods for healing) may be a promising
intervention for overweight and obese individuals. As such, this study
assessed the effect of a seven-week TCM lifestyle program on weight
loss in 18 (17 female and one male) adults ranging in age from 39-71
years old recruited from Hackensack University Medical Center. The primary
outcome variable was weight loss at seven weeks and four months post-intervention.
Since overweight and obesity confer elevated risk for hypertension,
and since pain, fatigue, and depression are common barriers to adherence
to lifestyle modification, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and
visual analog scale ratings of pain, fatigue, and depression were assessed
as secondary outcome variables. The lifestyle program included a) standardized
qiqong movements for all participants and b) individually tailored TCM
based dietary plans. Average post-intervention weight loss was 9.2 lbs
and 90% of participants maintained their weight loss at four months
post-intervention. Blood pressure values decreased an average of 14mmhg
systolic and 5mmhg diastolic (p<.05). Ratings of pain, fatigue and depression
also decreased significantly (p<.05). Patient satisfaction ratings assessed
at four months post-intervention indicated that 100% of participants
would recommend this program to family and friends. This study demonstrates
the efficacy of a TCM based lifestyle modification program in achieving
weight loss after a seven-week intervention that is maintained at four
months. These findings have direct application to the consideration
of TCM based lifestyle programs aimed toward reducing the impact of
the growing public health problem of overweight and obesity. Thus, TCM
lifestyle programs for weight loss may in turn lessen the incidence
of associated chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
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