比步數排行有新的好處了！可以預防抑鬱！

Few of us give much thought to how we put one foot in front of the other, but scientists are investigating whether changing the way we walk can protect our physical and mental health.

很少有人考慮過我們怎麼邁出步伐，但是科學家正在研究改變走路的方式是否可以保護我們的身心健康。

One promising focus is on how altering our gait can reduce our risk of knee arthritis. The most common type is osteoarthritis, which typically begins in middle age and gradually leads to the destruction of cartilage.

一個焦點是改變我們的步態可以降低膝關節炎的風險。其最常見的類型是骨關節炎，通常在中年開始發作並逐漸導致軟骨的破壞。

Cathy Holt, a professor of biomechanics and orthopaedic engineering at Cardiff University, is studying how the way people walk can trigger this.

卡迪夫大學生物力學和骨科工程教授凱茜霍爾特正在研究人們走路的方式如何引發這種情況。

She believes that teaching people to change their gait in middle age may save them decades of pain — and avoid the need for later knee replacement surgery.

她認爲，教導人們在中年改變步態可以避免他們之後幾十年的痛苦 - 並避免後期膝關節置換的手術。

'The damage can come about through poor walking habits,' says Professor Holt.

霍爾特教授說，這種損害可能是由於不良的行走習慣造成的。

Put simply, walking with your knees too far apart, or too close together, can put excess strain on the inside of the knee.

簡而言之，走路時膝蓋隔得太遠或太近，都可能會對膝蓋內側造成過大的壓力。

'Some people may be naturally a bit bow-legged or knock-kneed,' says Professor Holt, who is also a spokesperson for the charity Versus Arthritis.

霍爾特教授說，有些人可能本來有點弓腿或膝蓋受傷，他也是慈善機構Versus Arthritis的發言人。

'However, the way people walk may be affected by a small injury such as a cartilage tear or deformation. As a result, their knees are pushed out from their proper alignment when they take a step.

'但是，人們走路的方式可能受到諸如軟骨撕裂或變形等小傷害的影響。因此，當他們邁出一步時，他們的膝蓋被推離了正確的位置。

Such overloading of one side can trigger a cascade of cellular damage.

一側膝蓋的這種過載可以引發一系列細胞損傷。

In healthy knees, the cartilage and joint bone beneath it stay in constant communication, with the cartilage instructing the bone to release new cells that rejuvenate tissues to compensate for wear and tear. 'If your tissues are being loaded as they are expecting to be loaded, the system works well,' says Professor Holt. 'But when you overload it, this changes the signals between the tissues and they respond badly.'

在健康的膝蓋中，軟骨和其下方的關節骨保持不斷的交流，軟骨指示骨骼釋放新的細胞，使組織恢復活力以補償磨損。霍爾特教授說，如果你的組織在有預期的情況下承受壓力，系統依舊會運作良好。 “但是當你超負荷時，它會改變組織之間的信號並且反應會變得很差。”

The system then over-produces osteoclasts — cells that break down tissue as part of the normal process of our bones continually renewing themselves.

然後這個系統就會過度生成破骨細胞 - 分解組織的一種細胞，這是我們骨骼正常自我更新過程的一部分。

This overproduction degrades the bone joints and cartilage.

這種過度生產會使骨關節和軟骨退化。

'At the same time, the system also overproduces cytokines — immune cells that cause inflammation and the classic burning arthritis pain,' says Professor Holt. She and her team are researching gait-correcting retraining therapies for people in their 40s and 50s.

霍爾特教授說，與此同時，該系統還會過度生成細胞因子 - 這種細胞會引起炎症和典型的關節炎疼痛。她和她的團隊正在爲40多歲和50多歲的人們研究改善步態的再訓練療法。

Other studies have focused on changing the gait to alleviate arthritis pain. For example, in 2013, Pete Shull, a professor of mechanical engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, asked ten people with knee arthritis to walk on a treadmill while wearing monitoring equipment that gave them feedback on how well they were walking.

其他研究的重點是改變步態以減輕關節炎疼痛。例如，2013年，上海交通大學機械工程系皮特舒爾教授要求10名膝關節炎患者在跑步機上行走，同時佩戴監控設備然後給他們反饋行走情況。

Participants learned how to shift the walking load to the optimum parts of the knee joints. After the retraining, the patients reported that their pain had reduced by nearly a third — and their ability to walk had improved by a similar amount. Professor Shull and colleagues at Stanford University in California are now developing wearable equipment.

參與者學會了如何將行走負荷轉移到膝關節的最佳部位。再培訓後，患者報告他們的疼痛減少了近三分之一 - 並且他們的行走能力提高了相似的數量。舒爾教授及其加州斯坦福大學的同事正在開發可穿戴設備。

Meanwhile, Professor Holt is trialling ways to teach individuals to change their gait.

與此同時，霍爾特教授正在試驗教導個人改變步態的方法

'We ask them to walk with different styles — such with a wider gait — to see if that can make a beneficial difference,' she says.

她說，我們要求他們以不同的風格行走 - 比如更大的步伐 - 看看能否產生有益的影響

Other studies suggest that changing your walking style could also help prevent depression.

其他研究表明，改變行走方式也有助於預防抑鬱症。

The latest evidence emerged in February, in a study reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that, for four years, monitored more than 4,000 healthy people in Ireland over 50. It found a strong link between poor gait and depressive illness later.

2月份又有了這方面最新證據，在美國老年病學會期刊上發表的一項研究報告稱，四年來，愛爾蘭有超過4,000名健康人士受到50多人的監測。監測後來發現，步態不佳和抑鬱症之間存在密切聯繫。

'Lower walking speed and shorter steps predict a significantly increased risk of depression,' says Dr Robert Briggs, a specialist in geriatric medicine research and fellow at The Irish Longitudinal Study On Ageing in Dublin.

“較慢的步行速度和較短的步伐預示着患抑鬱症的風險顯著增加，”老年醫學研究專家，都柏林愛爾蘭老年人縱向研究研究員羅伯特布里格博士說。

Dr Robert Brigg says people with poor gaits are likely to get less exercise, probably because they find walking onerous, and it's known that walking energetically may protect against depression.

羅伯特布里格博士說，步態不佳的人可能因爲行走不便減少運動量，而且衆所周知，行走可以從能量方面防止抑鬱。

But other studies have revealed an intriguing additional factor: research has shown that if we walk 'happy', we can boost our mood.

但其他研究揭示了另一個有趣的因素：研究表明，如果我們快樂地行走，我們可以改善我們的情緒。

In 2014, Dr Nikolaus Troje, a motion biologist at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, trained 39 volunteers on treadmills to develop happy or sad gaits, with an upright or slumped posture.

2014年，加拿大安大略省女王大學的運動生物學家尼古拉斯托傑博士在跑步機上培訓了39名志願者，以直立或癱瘓的姿勢發展快樂或悲傷的步態。

After several hours, they had to memorise positive and negative words. Those in the 'depressed walk' group remembered many more negative words.

幾個小時後，他們按要求記住了一些積極或消極的話。那些處於“沮喪的行走”組的人記得更多的負面言論。

'The difference in recall suggests the depressed walking style actually created a more depressed mood,' he says.

他說，回憶的差異表明，沮喪的行走方式實際上造成了更加沮喪的情緒。

（翻譯：Jen）