Markwart, Michaela, Felsenstein, Donna, Mehta, Darshan H et al. · Global advances in integrative medicine and health · 2024 · DOI
This review looked at studies testing whether Qigong (a gentle Chinese exercise practice) might help people with ME/CFS. Researchers found 5 good-quality studies with a total of 481 people. The results suggest Qigong may help reduce symptom severity and improve both physical and emotional well-being, though more research is needed to be sure. Currently, there are no similar high-quality studies on Tai Chi for ME/CFS.
ME/CFS lacks effective pharmacological treatments, making non-pharmacological, patient-centered approaches important to explore. This review synthesizes emerging evidence on Qigong as a potentially accessible, low-risk complementary practice that may help patients manage symptoms and improve quality of life. The findings highlight both promise and significant research gaps that future trials must address to establish clinical utility.
This review does not prove Qigong is an effective treatment for ME/CFS; it only summarizes preliminary patient-reported benefits from a small number of studies. The heterogeneity in interventions, outcome measures, and study quality means definitive efficacy cannot be concluded. Long-term effects and mechanisms of benefit remain unknown, and the absence of Tai Chi RCTs means no conclusions can be drawn about that intervention.
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 →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Markwart, Michaela, Felsenstein, Donna, Mehta, Darshan H, Sethi, Samreen, Tsuchiyose, Erika, Lydson, Melis, et al. (2024). Qigong and Tai Chi for ME/CFS: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.. Global advances in integrative medicine and health. https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130241275607
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-markwart-2024-qigong-tai,
author = {Markwart, Michaela and Felsenstein, Donna and Mehta, Darshan H and Sethi, Samreen and Tsuchiyose, Erika and Lydson, Melis and Yeh, Gloria Y and Hall, Daniel L},
title = {Qigong and Tai Chi for ME/CFS: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.},
journal = {Global advances in integrative medicine and health},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1177/27536130241275607},
note = {PubMed: 39524182},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/markwart-2024-qigong-tai},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/markwart-2024-qigong-tai
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