研究:歡笑是病人最好的藥方

It’s no joke being stuck in a hospital bed.
　　成天躺在醫院的病牀上可不是件開玩笑的事兒。

But it seems that the old adage is true – laughter really is the best medicine.

不過看起來有句老話倒是的確不假——歡笑是最好的藥方。

It is likely to put you on the road to recovery more quickly than any hi-tech treatment, simply by increasing your circulation, researchers have found.

研究人員發現，和任何高科技的治療手段相比起來，歡笑更能加快恢復健康的速度，因爲其使得增加了全身血液循環。

A five-year study of patients with leg ulcers has established that a hearty chuckle stimulates the diaphragm which, in turn, plays a vital part in moving blood around the body.

一項對於小腿潰瘍患者長達五年的研究證實，歡笑能夠刺激隔膜肌肉，這反過來也大大的增加了周身血液循環的；流暢。

It actually speeds recovery from leg ulcers, said the report by the University of Leeds’ School of Healthcare.

英國利茲大學的醫療學校報告稱，這的確加快了小腿潰瘍患者的康復。

In contrast, expensive ultrasound therapy does little to help, contrary to what the researchers had expected to find.

與研究者的預期相比起來，昂貴的超聲治療的效果反而有限。

Traditional nursing care is also effective and this human contact is likely to lead to jokes and banter which is where the laughter therapy comes in.

傳統的護理方法同樣有效，在與人更多的接觸中，常常講些逗人開心的笑話，這正是歡笑療法的實質。

The research, published by the British Medical Journal, said: ‘Forget technology. The best prescription for patients with venous leg ulcers is good quality nursing care and the occasional belly laugh!’

這項醫學報告稱，與高科技相比，對於下肢靜脈潰瘍患者來說，最好的療法便是周到的護理與不時的捧腹大笑。

Professor Andrea Nelson, who led the study, said: ‘The key to care with this group of patients is to stimulate blood flow back up the legs to the heart.

據這項研究的學者表示，治療這種病症的關鍵在於促使血液從腿部迴流到心臟。

‘Believe it or not, having a really hearty chuckle can help too. This is because laughing gets the diaphragm moving and this plays a vital part in moving blood around the body.’

“信不信由你，發自內心的歡笑將使得膜片運動起來，它則是負責血液循環的重要部分。”

Complicated leg ulcers can take six months or more to heal. Ultrasound therapy did not speed this up – but did add an average of ?200 per patient to their care bill.

小腿潰瘍的治療常常需要6個多或者更長的時間，聲波療法速度緩慢，然而卻使得患者的醫療費用增加了200英鎊。

Previous studies have shown laughter can ward off heart disease. Loma Linda University in California studied men and women taking medication for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

之前的研究稱，歡笑能夠預防心臟疾病，美學者通過對於服用治療糖尿病，高血壓和高膽固醇的藥物的男女病人後得出這一結論。

Those who were prescribed ‘mirthful laughter’ in the form of 30 minutes of comedy every day found their stress hormone levels fell.

這些患者媒體收看30分鐘的喜劇節目，並笑得前仰後合，這大大的降低了他們應激激素腎上腺素的水平。