研究：开怀大笑有助于心脏健康

中国有句谚语，笑一笑，十年少。外国也有句老话，笑是最好的良药。事实上，经常大笑确实对身体有好处，尤其是心脏健康方面。新研究发现，大笑能够减轻冠心病患者的炎症，改善冠状动脉扩展功能，降低心脏病发作和中风的风险。

The old adage that “laughter is the best medicine” may contain an element of truth when it comes to heart health.

老话说，笑是最好的良药，这句话在心脏健康方面也许是有道理的。

A study has demonstrated that having a chuckle causes the tissue inside the heart to expand – and increases oxygen flow around the body.

一项研究表明，笑能让心脏内部组织扩张，从而增加在体内四处流动的氧气。

Patients with coronary artery disease who engaged in a course of laughter therapy had reduced inflammation and better health, the research found.

研究发现，采用“大笑疗法”的冠心病患者炎症减轻了，身体变好了。

"Our study found that laughter therapy increased the functional capacity of the cardiovascular system,” said the lead author, Prof Marco Saffi, of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil.

该研究的首席作者、巴西阿雷格里港医院的马克·萨菲教授表示：“我们的研究发现，大笑疗法能改善心血管系统的功能。”

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Amsterdam, the world’s largest heart conference.

这一研究结果在阿姆斯特丹举行的世界最大型心脏病学会议——欧洲心脏病学会年会上公布。

In the trial, scientists carried out a first-of-its-kind study to examine if laughter therapy could improve symptoms of patients with heart disease.

科学家在这项研究中开展了一场史无前例的试验，看大笑疗法能否改善心脏病患者的症状。

It involved 26 adults with an average age of 64, all diagnosed with coronary artery disease, caused by plaque buildup in the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart.

平均年龄为64岁的26名成人参与了这个试验，他们全都确诊冠心病，这种病是由给心脏供血的冠状动脉内壁斑块的累积导致的。

Over three months, half were asked to watch two different hour-long comedy programmes each week, including popular sitcoms. The other half watched two different serious documentaries, about topics such as politics or the Amazon rainforest.

在三个月的时间内，有一半的患者被要求每周观看两个不同的长达一小时的喜剧节目，包括受欢迎的情景喜剧。另外一半患者每周观看两部不同的严肃纪录片，涉及政治或亚马逊雨林这类题材。

At the end of the 12-week study period, the comedy group improved by 10% in a test measuring how much oxygen their heart could pump around the body.

在长达12周的研究结束时，科学家对他们的身体进行检查后发现，观看喜剧的小组成员心脏供应全身的氧气流量增加了10%。

The group also improved in a second measure that tested how well arteries can expand.

另一项检查发现，该小组的成员的冠状动脉扩张功能也改善了。

They also had blood tests to measure several inflammatory biomarkers, which indicate how much plaque has built up in the blood vessels, and whether people are at risk of heart attack or stroke. The results showed that these inflammatory markers had significantly reduced compared with the control group.

这些人还抽血检测了几个炎症生物指标，这些指标能显示出血管中积聚了多少斑块，以及是否有心脏病发作或中风的风险。结果显示，相比对照组，这些人的炎症指标都显著降低。

"When patients with coronary artery disease arrive at hospital, they have a lot of inflammatory biomarkers,” said Saffi. “Inflammation is a huge part of the process of atherosclerosis, when plaque builds up in the arteries.

萨菲表示：“当冠心病患者就医时，他们的炎症指标都很高。炎症是动脉粥样硬化过程中表明动脉斑块累积的主要症状。”

"This study found that laughter therapy is a good intervention that could help reduce that inflammation and decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke.

“这项研究发现，大笑疗法是很好的干预手段，有助于减轻炎症并降低心脏病发作和中风的风险。”