神奇!玩紙牌等遊戲有助中風患者康復!
Playing simple card games, such as snap, can help stroke patients with their recovery, say Canadian researchers. Playing Jenga, bingo or a games consol like Wii worked equally well.
加拿大的研究人員近日表示，多玩兒像Snap這樣的紙牌遊戲有助於中風病人的康復。玩兒層層疊，賓果遊戲或者Wii這樣的體感遊戲機也有同樣的好處。They told the Lancet Neurology that the type of task used for motor rehabilitation might be less relevant, as long as it is intensive, repetitive and gets the hands and arms moving.
研究人員接受《柳葉刀神經病學》雜誌採訪時表示，採用何種恢復方法不是最重要的，重要的是這種方法要有足夠的強度，適合反覆進行，令病人的手臂和雙手得到運動。The researchers designed their study to test whether virtual reality gaming, which is increasingly being employed as a rehab therapy for stroke patients, is any better than more traditional games for honing upper limb motor skills.
虛擬現實遊戲在恢復病人上肢運動能力的過程中愈發常見，研究人員設計了一項實驗，來評判虛擬現實遊戲和傳統遊戲各自的治療效果。
The Canadian team recruited 141 patients who had recently suffered a stroke, and now had some impaired movement in one or both of their hands and arms.
這個加拿大的研究團隊招募了141位最近患上中風的病人，其中一些病人的某隻手，某隻手臂或者雙手雙臂直到如今仍存在行動障礙。Approximately half of the patients, at random, were then allocated to the Wii rehab, while the rest were asked to do other recreational activities, such as playing cards. All of the patients continued to receive usual stroke rehabilitation care and support on top of the 10, one-hour sessions of gaming or card playing for a fortnight.
研究人員隨機選出了近一半的病人通過玩Wii遊戲機進行治療，另一半病人則採取玩牌等娛樂方式進行治療。所有病人在兩週的療程內每天接受頂級的恢復訓練，還要玩一小時遊戲或者打一小時牌。Both groups showed significant improvement in their motor skills at the end of the two weeks and four weeks later. Importantly, both groups fared equally well, say the researchers.
在兩週療程結束後及此後四周內，兩組病人的運動能力都有了顯著提升。研究人員表示，重要的是兩組病人的恢復程度同樣良好。While it's not clear from this study how much of the improvement was from the regular stroke care the participants received, other research suggests adding in more therapy is beneficial.
目前常規的中風治療手段究竟對病人的病情恢復有多大的貢獻尚不清楚，其他研究表明引入更多的療法對病情恢復有益。Investigator Dr Gustavo Saposnik, from St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, said: "We all like technology and have the tendency to think that new technology is better than old-fashioned strategies, but sometimes that's not the case. In this study, we found that simple recreational activities that can be implemented anywhere may be as effective as technology."
多倫多聖約翰醫院的古斯塔沃·薩珀斯尼克博士表示：“我們都喜歡科學技術，總是認爲新的技術強於舊的治療手段，有時實際情況並非如此。我們在研究中發現，隨處可玩的簡單遊戲可能像科學技術一樣有效。”Alexis Wieroniey of the UK's Stroke Association said the findings were particularly encouraging because they suggest that inexpensive, easily accessible activities can help some stroke survivors in their recovery. "Thousands of stroke survivors are left with mobility problems, and this can lead to a devastating loss of independence," she added.
英國中風研究協會的亞歷克西斯·威朗尼表示，這是一項非常鼓舞人心的發現，因爲這些造價低、容易進行的活動對中風患者的病情恢復大有裨益。她補充說道：“上千名中風患者的運動能力出現了問題，這對他們獨立生活的能力造成了巨大的損害。”
