Question:
I am an Occupational Therapist working with people who have had a brain injury. I have a hunch that Tai Chi would be an effective treatment but I have never seen it being used.

I am hoping to make contact with anyone who has used Tai Chi either before or since their brain injury, or anyone who knows such a person. I am interested in people in this respect who have had a stroke, head injury, multiple sclerosis or any other neurological condition.

Answer: I was recently dx'd with multiple sclerosis and Tai Chi was recommended to me as "the best" excersize to do. I just started last week, so can't say anything about its effectiveness. However, I have a friend with ms (12 years) who has been practicing tai chi for the last three and swears that she would not be walking today were it not for that. To me it makes logical sense that such an activity would be beneficial. Yoga would also fall into this category. My neuro recommended it, so I think it's something that others have had hunches about as well!

Hospital stats show very few 'head injury only' non helmeted cyclists. This means that non helmeted cyclists in that situation can't be needing medical treatment either. And in some cases, as I suggested above, the evidence seems to be that they probably don't even hit their heads. There was one study in the US which stopped cyclists in the street, noted helmet wearing rates, and then asked if they had hit their head and if so, were they wearing a helmet at the time. The funny thing was that the helmet wearing rate for those who hit their heads was 7 times the observed helmet wearing rate on the day of questioning. Or, with a few ifs and buts, you might conclude that helmeted cyclists are 7 times more likely to hit their heads. Or, I suppose, those who are likely to hit their heads are 7 times more likely to have been wearing a helmet. There wasn't any difference in head injury rates according to helmet wearing, just in head hitting rates.