Study suggests Chinese exercise fights shingles in older people
研究显示，中式练身可对付老年人的带状疱疹
美联社2007年四月八日消息
Tai chi is already known as a good low-impact exercise for older people. Now a recent study suggests it offers benefits beyond improving fitness and balance: It may help prevent shingles, a painful skin condition.
太极是一种适合老年人的低强度运动。一项最新的研究显示，它除了有益健身、可提高平衡能力之外，还可能有助于防止一种痛苦的皮肤症状--带状疱疹。
Researchers found older people who performed the slow, graceful movements of tai chi had a better immune response against the virus that causes shingles than those who only got health education, according to the most rigorous test to date.
通过迄今为止最严谨的测试，研究者发现：练习这种动作舒缓优美的太极拳的老人，比起那些只受过卫生教育的人，具有更好的免疫能力来对付引起带状疱疹的病毒。
It's unclear how tai chi, an ancient Chinese martial art that has become increasingly popular in the West, affects the immune system. But health experts were encouraged by the positive results.
目前还不清楚太极，这一来自中国但在西方日趋普及的古老武术, 是如何影响免疫系统的。但是卫生专家们对这个积极成果感到鼓舞。
"The message is that older people need to maintain healthy behavior," said Andrew Monjan of the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the research. "It's nothing that our mothers haven't told us, but we're seeing it certainly holds up to scientific inquiry."
“它给我们的启示是，老年人必需保持健康活动”，资助这一研究的全国老龄化研究所的专家安德鲁。芒简说，“听上去像是老生常谈，但我们见证了，这话确实经得起科学检验”。
The study appears in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and was led by Dr. Michael Irwin of the University of California, Los Angeles.
由来自加州大学洛杉矶分校的迈克尔欧文博士领导的这项研究，刊登在四月号的《美国老年社会杂志》上。
Shingles is a painful skin rash that can pop up in people who have had chickenpox. The chickenpox virus can remain dormant in the body and resurface as shingles years later. It usually starts with pain and itching on the skin that later turns into an irritating rash.
带状疱疹是一种痛苦的皮疹，好发于曾患过水痘的人。水痘病毒可在体内潜伏多年之后以带状疱疹形式复发，患处先表现为皮肤痛痒，后来变成了刺激性红疹。
An estimated 1 million Americans are afflicted with shingles every year and it commonly occurs in people 50 years old and older.
估计每年有100万美国人患带状疱疹，通常发生在50岁以上的人身上。
The UCLA study involved 112 healthy adults, ages 59 to 86, who have had previous cases of chickenpox.
加州大学洛杉矶分校的研究涉及112位健康成人，年龄59至86岁，曾经患过水痘。
Half of them took tai chi classes three times a week for three months and the rest attended health education classes where they were taught good diet habits and stress management. Then both groups were vaccinated with a chickenpox vaccine. Researchers took periodic blood tests before and after vaccination to determine their level of immunity against shingles.
半数受访者参加为期三个月每周三次的太极班；其余参加健康教育班，教他们良好的饮食习惯及压力管理。然后两组都接种水痘疫苗。接种前后研究者均定期抽血化验，以确定其对带状疱疹的免疫水平。
After six months, the tai chi group had nearly twice the level of immunity against shingles than the education group.
六个月后，太极组对带状疱疹的免疫力比教育组高近两倍。
Those who performed tai chi before vaccination had an immune response that was similar to what a vaccine would produce in a younger population. Tai chi combined with the vaccine showed a 40 percent increase in immunity than the vaccine alone, researchers found.
太极练习者在接种之前的免疫反应，与接种了疫苗的更年轻的人口相似。研究人员还发现，太极结合疫苗的免疫力，比只用疫苗的高出40%。
The results weren't surprising to tai chi instructor Howard Chuck, who owns a tai chi academy in Sunnyvale, Calif.
对在加州桑尼维尔开太极学院的霍华德查克来说，这个结果不足为奇。
Although none of his students are trying to ward off shingles, Chuck said the exercise is popular among his older people who prefer tai chi's meditation aspects.
虽然他的学生当中没人得带状疱疹，但查克透露，太极在喜欢坐禅的老年人当中很流行。
"Tai chi requires a lot of mind power not just muscle power," he said.
"太极需要很多心灵的力量不只是肌肉的力量"，他说。
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