春季常散步能有效抵抗抑鬱
Daily exercise alone could, according to new research, be as effective in treating severe depression as antidepressants.
據一項最新的調查發現，在治療嚴重抑鬱症的過程中，日常的健身運動可以起到與抗抑鬱藥品類似的療效。
Results from a Portuguese study of 150 depressed patients showed that moderate exercise improved symptoms in those who had not responded well to drug treatments.
一項在葡萄牙所進行調查結果顯示，150名抑鬱患者中積極參加體育運動的患者病情好轉的情況遠要比單純依賴藥物治療的患者來得好得多。
Participants kept taking their present medication, but half were also given aerobic exercises - 30 to 45-minute walks, five days a week, for 12 weeks.
這些參加調查的患者維持了原有的藥物治療手段，其中一般人接受了有氧運動的訓練——每週五天，每天30分鐘到45分鐘的散步，一直持續了12個星期。
Results showed a 26 per cent remission rate among patients in the exercise group compared with a zero remission rate in the others.
結果表明，接受運動訓練的患者中有26%的人的病情出現了緩解，而另一組爲參加運動的患者的緩解情況則爲零。
Another study of 400 volunteers in Brazil found that men who had the highest levels of physical activity were 68 per cent less likely to have symptoms of depression.
巴西的一項調查研究也說明了同樣的道理，在400名自願者中，運動強度最高的男性出現抑鬱情況的機率減少了近七成左右。
Women who exercised had a 24 per cent lower risk.
女性方面則會降低近四成的機率。
In a third study, at the University of Rochester in New York, more than 1,000 people were equipped with monitors that measured physical movements, and researchers found that the more active individuals were, the lower the levels of depressive symptoms.
紐約羅切斯特大學所進行了一項實驗，1000名受測者攜帶了監測身體運動水平的裝置，研究人員發現，個體越活躍，抑鬱症的水平則越低。
It has been estimated that about one in ten Britons will experience depression at some time in their lives. It is not clear how exercise could have such profound effects.
據估計，英國有近十分之一的人羣會在一生的某個時候經受抑鬱的困惱，而體育運動對此會有多大的影響，目前還不得而知。
One theory is that those diagnosed with depression have higher levels of inflammation in their body tissues. Studies have shown that when depression is successfully treated, inflammation levels drop.
有一種理論這樣認爲，抑鬱症患者通常會被診斷出身體組織炎症水平較高，隨着病症被逐漸的治療，炎症水平也會逐漸降低。
Dr Glenn Wilson, of Gresham College, London, says: 'Exercise can make a difference for some people.'
倫敦格雷沙姆學院的格倫威爾遜博士表示，“運動對於某些人來說的確會帶來變化。”
