The ancient Chinese martial art Tai Chi could tackle insomnia more effectively than NHS-backed talking therapies, research has suggested.
In England, current health service guidance advises that GPs treat patients with more severe insomnia with cognitive behavioural talking therapy (CBT).
Courses of sleeping pills may be prescribed, but these are short term, and often have minimal benefit.
Now, however, scientists in Hong Kong have found tai chi matched and even outperformed CBT in reducing insomnia severity in the long term.
Scientists, who assessed 200 adults with the condition, discovered CBT was the more effective of the two treatments after three months.
Yet, at 15 months tai chi was as beneficial for insomnia, and it also boosted patient's quality of life, mental health and physical activity levels.
Writing in the journal, the BMJ, researchers at the University of Hong Kong, said their study 'supports the use of tai chi as an alternative approach for the long-term management of chronic insomnia in middle-aged and older adults'.
In the study, participants who were aged 50 or over and had chronic insomnia, were split into two groups.
They either undertook tai chi or CBT for one-hour sessions twice a week, for a total of 24 sessions — approximately three months.
All patients were free of other chronic conditions that may affect sleep, were not taking part in regular aerobic or mind-body exercise, had not received previous CBT treatment and were not working shift patterns.
People then scored their symptoms such as difficulty falling and staying asleep, waking up too early and being unable to go back to sleep, and impact on daily life.
After three months, the tai chi group showed a drop of 6.67 points on the insomnia severity index, while the CBT group logged a reduction of 11.19 points.
After tracking patients for 15 months, however, reductions among the tai chi and CBT groups stood at 9.51 and 10.18, respectively.
Tai chi was also found to have comparable benefits in areas such as quality of life, mental health and physical activity level, the researchers said.
The authors acknowledged some people in the study may have continued tai chi after the three-month period, which may have skewed the results.
But they added: 'Our findings suggest that tai chi can lead to substantial improvements in insomnia severity after a three-month intervention while the long-term efficacy of tai chi is non-inferior to that of CBT, the gold standard treatment for chronic insomnia.'
While further research was still vital, their findings could help doctors, who frequently see patients with insomnia, be able to inform patients on which treatments will best help them manage their symptoms, they said.
People often take around 10 to 20 minutes normally to nod off after turning off the lights, the Sleep Foundation say.
Last year, a study found that around one in six Brits suffer insomnia, yet 65 per cent never seek help for their sleep problem.
The poll of 2,000 people, by The Sleep Charity, found nine in ten experience some sort of sleep problem, while one in two engage in high-risk or dangerous behaviours when unable to sleep.
Poor sleep has been linked to a number of health problems, including cancer, stroke and infertility.
Experts have long advised that waking up during the night does not necessarily mean you have insomnia, which figures suggest affects up to 14million Brits.
Still, sleep deprivation takes its own toll, from irritability and reduced focus in the short term, to an increased risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
According to the American Sleep Association, nearly 70 million Americans also have a sleep disorder.
