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作者：Amy Norton NEW YORK | Fri Sep 16, 2011 2:18pm EDT 纽约/2011年9月16日 星期五 (Reuters Health) - Simply suggesting that a treatment will ease chest pain may not only dampen the pain, but directly alter heart arteries, a small study concludes. （路透社健康频道）一项小型研究发现，简单的暗示治疗不仅可以缓解患者的胸部疼痛，而且可以直接改变心脏动脉。 Among 30 patients having a procedure to evaluate their chest pain, researchers found that those who were told they were being given an infusion of a pain-relieving drug did, on average, report a decrease in pain. 有30名患者参与了试验，评估他们的胸部疼痛。研究人员发现，平均而言，那些被告知将要接受镇痛药输液治疗的患者报告疼痛有所减轻。 But the participants also showed a measurable change in their heart arteries: a slight but distinct narrowing of the vessels. 但是受试者的心脏动脉还表现出了一个可测量的变化：血管有轻度的但是明显的缩小。 Exactly what the findings mean, and whether they have implications for heart disease patients, is not clear. 这项发现究竟意味着什么，心脏动脉的改变对患者是否有影响，目前尚不清楚。 None of the chest-pain patients actually had heart disease; they were told about the "drug" (which was actually harmless saline) only after testing had shown no blockages in their heart arteries. 这些胸痛患者实际上没有人患有心脏疾病；他们被告知将要使用的“药物”（事实上是无害的生理盐水）仅在经过检测表明患者的心脏动脉无阻塞后才使用。 The key point is that the power of suggestion created an objective change in the blood vessels, according to Drs. Karin Meissner and Joram Ronel of Technical University Munich in Germany. 德国慕尼黑科技大学的Karin Meissner博士和Joram Ronel博士称，最关键的是，暗示的作用导致血管出现了实质上的改变。 "The major finding was that the coronary vessels reacted so clearly to a mere psychological intervention," they told Reuters Health in an email. 他们在一封写给路透社健康频道的电子邮件中称，“重要的发现在于冠状动脉血管对于一个单纯的心理干预作出了如此明显的反应”。 And the reaction was in a direction opposite to the one researchers had expected to see. 而且这个翻译与研究人员所期望看到的完全相反。 The patients were actually told that the "drug" they were receiving would widen their arteries to relieve their chest pain. Instead, there was a small amount of blood vessel constriction in the group overall. 实际上，患者被告知他们将要接受的“药物”可以扩张他们的动脉，从而缓解胸痛。结果与之相反，有一小部分血管出现了收缩。 But that constriction does make biological sense, according to Meissner and Ronel. 不过，按照Meissner和Ronel博士的说法血管收缩并没有生物学意义。 In a healthy person who is under stress, the nervous system triggers a widening in the blood vessels so that blood circulation increases to meet the body's needs. When stress fades, the vessels can narrow again. 当一个健康人在紧张时，神经系统会激发血管扩张，使血液循环增加，以满足身体的需要。当压力减退，血管可以再度收缩。 "When the heart works less," Meissner and Ronel explained, "there is less need for blood supply, and the vessels will be less dilated than in a stressful situation. This is how we interpret our data." Meissner和Ronel博士解释说，“当心脏工作减少，血液需求水平会降低，而相对于紧张状态，血管会有所收缩。这是目前我们对数据的解释。” They added, though, that this is the process in a healthy person. The situation may be different in a person with heart disease. 然而，他们补充说，这是在健康人身上发生的过程。在患有心脏病的患者身上，情况可能会有所不同。 The findings, reported in the American Heart Journal, build on a phenomenon seen in clinical trials studying heart disease. That is, some people receiving placebos (inactive "treatments") report improvements in symptoms like chest pain. 《美国心脏杂志》报道了这项发现，该发现是建立在心脏病临床研究时观察到的现象上的。也就是说，一部分接受安慰剂（无效“药物”）的患者报告胸痛之类的症状得到缓解。 How much of that reaction is due to psychological or even biological effects is unclear. 这个反应多大程度上取决于心理效应或者甚至是生物效应并不清楚。 To examine whether there might be placebo effects on the heart arteries, Meissner and Ronel's team looked at 30 patients who underwent coronary angiography to evaluate chest pain symptoms. 为了检查心脏动脉的改变是否是安慰剂效应，Meissner和Ronel博士的团队观察了30名接受冠状动脉造影的患者，以评估胸痛症状。 During coronary angiography, a thin tube (catheter) is threaded through a blood vessel into the heart, where a special dye is injected. Using X-rays, doctors can then look for blockages in the heart arteries that may be the source of the chest pain. 在冠状动脉造影时，一个细管（导管）通过血管进入心脏，注入一种特殊的染料。通过X射线，医生可以寻找心脏动脉上的阻塞，这些阻塞可能是胸痛的根源。 The 30 patients were included in this study only after the test turned up no blockages. While still on the exam table, they were randomly assigned to either a "verbal suggestion" group or a control group. 只有当检查结果表明冠状动脉没有阻塞以后，30名患者才被列入此项研究。然后，受试患者被随机分配在“口头暗示”组或者对照组。 In both groups, patients received an injection of saline into the catheter. Those in the verbal-suggestion group were told it was a drug that would widen their heart arteries and boost blood flow to the heart. Patients in the control group were told nothing. 这两个组的患者都接受了通过导管注射生理盐水的治疗。那些“口头暗示”组的患者被告知这种药物会扩张他们的动脉和促进血液流向心脏。而对照组的患者没有被告知任何事项。 On average, the study found, the verbal-suggestion group reported a dip in their chest pain after the procedure, while showing some blood vessel narrowing. The opposite was true in the control group: slightly more pain and a little more vessel dilation. 研究发现，平均而言，“口头暗示”组在治疗后报告胸痛减轻，同时一些血管收缩。而对照组则与此相反：胸痛有所增强，血管有少许扩张。 The researchers say they suspect the pain reduction was an "indirect effect" of the verbal suggestion, but they cannot know for sure whether or to what degree the blood vessel changes might have contributed to it. 研究人员称，他们怀疑胸痛的减轻是口头暗示的一个“间接效应”，但是他们不能确定地知道是否或者在多大程度上血管的改变造成了这个结果。 More studies on this question are still needed, according to Meissner and Ronel. If verbal suggestion does have a measurable effect "at the level of the heart" in people with actual heart disease, they said, that would be important to know. Meissner和Ronel博士表示，在这个问题上，仍然需要更多的研究。他们说，若口头暗示对于患有实质心脏疾病的患者“在心脏水平上”有着可测量的效果，了解这个过程将会是很重要的。 SOURCE:http://www./topic/stress American Heart Journal, September 2011. 来源：http://www./topic/stress 《美国心脏杂志》，2011年9月 |
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