title: Combined effects of astragalus soup and persistent Taiji boxing on improving the immunity of elderly women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the combined effects of astragalus soup and persistent Taiji boxing on improving the immunity of women of advanced years.
  
  
  METHODS
  120 elderly women lacking daily exercise were chosen as the study subjects. By using the table of random numbers, they were then divided into the control group and the experiment group, consisting of 60 each. The control group practiced Taiji boxing for 45 minutes twice a day. The experiment group did the same, and, in addition, took astragalus soup after each boxing. Indexes related to physical immunity of the two groups were observed and compared when they were first chosen, when the alternative treatment was applied three, six and twelve months later, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two groups demonstrated no significant differences in general data and research indexes when chosen (P > 0.05). Three months after the two groups were chosen and treated differently, the control group demonstrated no significant improvement while most indexes of the experiment group improved considerably (P > 0.05). After six months, the related indexes of both groups improved substantially (P < 0.05) and the improvement with the experiment was even clearer (P < 0.05). Twelve months later, the improvement with the experiment group was more noticeable (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a relatively short period of three months, Taiji boxing produces no noticeable effect on the improvement of immunity in elderly women. However, when they resume the exercise for another three months and longer, Taiji boxing has a noticeable advantage and the effect is the most favorable when it is combined with astragalus soup.
authors.affiliation: Center of Physical Health, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Center of Physical Health, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Rong-Mei
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Lab of Human Body Science, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Quan-Hai
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Lab of Human Body Science, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Qing
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Center of Physical Health, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Lab of Human Body Science, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Center of Physical Health, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Lab of Human Body Science, Henan Polytechnic University Jiaozuo 454000, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Taiji boxing; astragalus soup; combined effect; immunity; the elderly