CompletedNCT00118885Updated Dec 11, 2009

Shingles: Immune Effects of Tai Chi

A Phase 2 interventional study of Tai Chi Chih in Aging and Herpes Zoster, sponsored by National Institute on Aging (NIA). Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 60 Years to 90 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2009-12-11.

Sponsored by National Institute on Aging (NIA) · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase: Phase 2
Study type: Interventional
Enrollment: 140
Allocation: Randomized
Ages: 60 Years to 90 Years
Sex: All

Study summary

The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the effects of Tai Chi Chih versus Health Education on shingles immunity in older adults as measured by unstimulated and vaccine-stimulated responses. The secondary goal of the study is to determine the effects of Tai Chi Chih versus Health Education on measures of health functioning, depressive symptoms, and health behaviors in the elderly.

Read the detailed description

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster (HZ), is more common in older persons due to the weakening of the immune system with advancing age. Psychosocial stresses in the older adult also correlate with the decline in immunity. In addition, preliminary data indicate that the presence of depressive symptoms in older adults is associated with a decline in the response to varicella zoster virus (VZV) vaccination. Taken together, the untoward effects of age and depressive symptoms on VZV immunity raise the question as to whether a behavioral intervention might augment VZV specific immunity in the older adult.

Preliminary data has shown that administration of a relaxation-response based intervention, Tai Chi Chih (TCC), results in improvements in health functioning and VZV immunity in older adults as compared to a control group. TCC is a slow moving meditation comprised of twenty separate standardized movements for use in elderly populations. By standardization of training and practice schedules, TCC offers an important advantage over prior relaxation response based therapies. This controlled trial has 3 goals:

determine whether the practice of TCC for 16 weeks influences unstimulated- and vaccine-stimulated VZV specific immunity in adults 60 years of age and older;
demonstrate that TCC can produce significant changes in psychological adaptation, health behaviors, and health functioning and well-being;
assess whether changes in psychological adaptation, health behaviors, and health functioning correlate with changes in VZV immunity following TCC in older adults.

Conditions studied

Aging
Herpes Zoster

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Keywords

Shingles
depression
varicella zoster virus
alternative medicine
psychoneuroimmunology

In context

Herpes Zoster

370 studies on the registry are indexed under Herpes Zoster; 63 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 140 is below the median of 242 across 306 interventional studies indexed under Herpes Zoster.

Browse Herpes Zoster studies →

Lead sponsor

National Institute on Aging (NIA) is the lead sponsor of 160 studies on the registry; 13 are open to participants now.

Of its 7 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 2 (29%) have results posted.

Browse National Institute on Aging (NIA) studies →

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

Who can participate

Ages eligible: 60 Years to 90 Years
Sexes eligible: All
Accepts healthy volunteers: Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

Older than 60 years of age at time of entry
History of varicella or long term (>30 years) residence in the continental USA
Accessible geographically

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Immunosuppression resulting from neoplastic disease, corticosteroids or other therapy
Significant underlying illness that would be expected to prevent completion of the study; any other condition (e.g. extensive psoriasis, chronic pain syndrome, cognitive impairment, severe hearing loss) that in the opinion of the investigator might interfere with the required evaluations
Not ambulatory (bed-ridden)
Prior HZ or prior receipt of varicella vaccine
Allergic sensitivity to neomycin
Receipt of immune globulin or other blood product within 3 months before the study period
Receipt of other immunizations (e.g., hepatitis B vaccine) within 1 month of immunization
Women who are not post-menopausal
Acutely depressed or a suicidal risk
Unable to commit to intervention schedule
No history of varicella or varicella vaccination or no evidence of VZV immunity
Contact with immunosuppressed individuals or pregnant women who do not have a history of chickenpox
Active infections such as tuberculosis

Study design

Phase: Phase 2
Primary purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel assignment
Enrollment: 140 participants

Interventions

BehavioralTai Chi Chih

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

varicella zoster specific immunity

Secondary outcomes

measures of health status including SF-36 scores, depressive symptoms, and health behaviors

Study locations

1 site

Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute
Los Angeles, California 90095, United States

References and documents

Publications

Miller GE, Cohen S. Psychological interventions and the immune system: a meta-analytic review and critique. Health Psychol. 2001 Jan;20(1):47-63. doi: 10.1037//0278-6133.20.1.47. PubMed 11199066 ↗
Oxman MN, Levin MJ, Johnson GR, Schmader KE, Straus SE, Gelb LD, Arbeit RD, Simberkoff MS, Gershon AA, Davis LE, Weinberg A, Boardman KD, Williams HM, Zhang JH, Peduzzi PN, Beisel CE, Morrison VA, Guatelli JC, Brooks PA, Kauffman CA, Pachucki CT, Neuzil KM, Betts RF, Wright PF, Griffin MR, Brunell P, Soto NE, Marques AR, Keay SK, Goodman RP, Cotton DJ, Gnann JW Jr, Loutit J, Holodniy M, Keitel WA, Crawford GE, Yeh SS, Lobo Z, Toney JF, Greenberg RN, Keller PM, Harbecke R, Hayward AR, Irwin MR, Kyriakides TC, Chan CY, Chan IS, Wang WW, Annunziato PW, Silber JL; Shingles Prevention Study Group. A vaccine to prevent herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in older adults. N Engl J Med. 2005 Jun 2;352(22):2271-84. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa051016. PubMed 15930418 ↗
Irwin M, Pike J, Oxman M. Shingles Immunity and Health Functioning in the Elderly: Tai Chi Chih as a Behavioral Treatment. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2004 Dec;1(3):223-232. doi: 10.1093/ecam/neh048. Epub 2004 Dec 1. PubMed 15841255 ↗
Irwin MR, Pike JL, Cole JC, Oxman MN. Effects of a behavioral intervention, Tai Chi Chih, on varicella-zoster virus specific immunity and health functioning in older adults. Psychosom Med. 2003 Sep-Oct;65(5):824-30. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000088591.86103.8f. PubMed 14508027 ↗
Irwin MR, Olmstead R. Mitigating cellular inflammation in older adults: a randomized controlled trial of Tai Chi Chih. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012 Sep;20(9):764-72. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e3182330fd3. PubMed 21934474 ↗
Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Motivala SJ. Improving sleep quality in older adults with moderate sleep complaints: A randomized controlled trial of Tai Chi Chih. Sleep. 2008 Jul;31(7):1001-8. PubMed 18652095 ↗

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026

No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 11, 2009, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Registry details

Key details

Study ID: NCT00118885
Lead sponsor: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Collaborators: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
First posted: Jul 12, 2005
Start date: Jul 2001
Primary completion: Dec 2004
Completion: Dec 2004
Last update: Dec 11, 2009

Study contacts

Michael R. Irwin, MD

principal investigator · Norman Cousins Professor, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute

View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2006. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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