医学英语文章
健康应该是人类一生追求的目标,身体健康素质的构成因素与健康有密切的关系。下面是小编带来的医学英语文章，欢迎阅读!
医学英语文章1
精神身体医学 好好反省一下吧
Science and technology
科学技术
Psychosomatic medicine
精神身体医学
Think yourself well
好好反省一下吧
You can. But it helps to think well of yourself in the first place
你可以的。只是它会首先帮你好好反省一下自己。
THE link between mind and body is terrain into which many medical researchers, fearingridicule, dare not tread.
大脑与身体之间存在着千丝万缕的联系，但是，因为怕被嘲笑，很多医学研究人员不敢涉足这块领域。
But perhaps more should do so.
但是，可能应该有更多人来研究它。
For centuries, doctors have recognised the placebo effect, in which the illusion oftreatment, such as pills without an active ingredient, produces real medical benefits.
数个世纪以来，医生们已经认识到了安慰剂的效力，其实是一种错觉治疗达到了真正的药物效应，比如没有实际疗效的药丸等。
More recently, respectable research has demonstrated that those who frequently experiencepositive emotions live longer and healthier lives.
最近以来，相当受重视的研究表明， 那些经常以积极的态度生活的人活得更长久，而且更健康。
They have fewer heart attacks, for example, and fewer colds too.
比如，他们几乎不会有心脏病，而且也很少感冒。
Why this happens, though, is only slowly becoming understood.
只是这种现象现在还无法解释。
What is needed is an experiment that points out specific and measurable ways in which suchemotions alter an individual's biology.
我们需要的是做一个试验，指明具体的，可衡量以情绪改变人体生物机理的方式。
And a study published in Psychological Science, by Barbara Fredrickson and Bethany Kok at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, does precisely that.
位于查珀尔希尔的北卡罗莱纳州大学的巴巴拉弗雷德里克松和伯斯尼考克最近进行了一项研究，发表在心理科学杂志，他们的研究正体现了这点。
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok concentrated their attentions on the vagus nerve.
弗雷德里克松教授和考克教授集中于研究迷走神经。
This nerve starts in the brain and runs, via numerous branches, to several thoracic andabdominal organs including the heart.
这种神经起始端在大脑，通过众多的分支与几大胸部和腹部器官，包括心脏相连。
Among its jobs is to send signals telling that organ to slow down during moments of calm andsafety.
它的一项职能就是，发出信号告诉这些器官，在人体处于平静和安全的时候减缓工作步伐。
How effectively the vagus nerve is working can be tracked by monitoring someone's heart rateas he breathes in and out.
你可以通过监测一个人呼吸时的心率来有效地追踪迷走神经的工作过程。
Healthy vagal function is reflected in a subtle increase in heart rate while breathing in and asubtle decrease while breathing out.
如果迷走神经工作正常的话，你可以从人体吸进空气时心率的不明显增加上看出来，同样，当人体呼出空气时心率也会有微弱的减少。
The difference yields an index of vagal tone, and the value of this index is known to beconnected with health.
如果迷走神经处于不健康状态时，会产生不同的迷走张力指数。
Low values are, for example, linked to inflammation and heart attacks.
众所周知，这个指数值与健康密切相关。比如，指数值低的话，就可能说明有炎症，及心脏病了。
What particularly interested Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok was recent work that showed somethingelse about the vagal-tone index:
特别有趣的是，弗雷德里克松教授和考克教授最近研究也显示了与迷走神经张力指数有关的其它东西。
people with high tone are better than those with low at stopping bad feelings gettingoverblown.
在避免让不良情绪扩大方面，指数高的人这方面的能力明显优于指数低的人。
They also show more positive emotions in general.
这些人平时也会表现出更乐观积极的情绪。
This may provide the missing link between emotional well-being and physical health.
这可能也弥补了在情感福祉与身体健康之间缺失的一环。
In particular, the two researchers found, during a preliminary study they carried out in 2010,that the vagal-tone values of those who experience positive emotions over a period of time goup.
特别是，两位研究者发现，在他们2011年的初期实验中，那些一直保持积极乐观情绪的人的迷走神经张力指数也上升了。
This left them wondering whether positive emotions and vagal tone drive one another in avirtuous spiral.
这个现象让他们想知道，积极情绪和张力指数之间的良性循环，究竟哪个才是真正的驱动呢?
They therefore conducted an experiment on 65 of the university's staff, to try to find out.
因此，他们对65所大学中的人员进行了试验，想找出真相。
They measured all of their volunteers' vagal tones at the beginning of the experiment and atits conclusion nine weeks later.
他们测得了刚开始试验时，试验志愿者的张力指数及九周后的张力指数。
In between, the volunteers were asked to go each evening to a website especially designed forthe purpose, and rate their most powerful emotional experiences that day.
在试验期间，志愿者们被要求每晚去一家指定的，特别为这个试验设计的网站，并且为他们每天最强烈的情感体验打分。
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok asked their volunteers to consider nine positive emotions, such ashope, joy and love, and 11 negative ones, including anger, boredom and disgust.
弗雷德里克松教授和考克教授要求志愿者们想着积极的情绪，比如希望，喜悦和爱，还有11种消极的情绪，包括愤怒，厌倦和厌恶。
They were asked to rate, on a five-point scale, whether—and how strongly—they had felt eachemotion.
志愿者们打分的标准分为五级，他们是否感觉到了要求的情绪，有多强烈等。
One point meant not at all; five meant extremely.
一级意味着没什么;五级意味着极其。
In addition, half the participants, chosen at random, were invited to a series of workshops runby a licensed therapist, to learn a meditation technique intended to engender in themeditator a feeling of goodwill towards both himself and others.
另外，以随机的方式抽取了一半的参与者，被邀请参加一系列由特许理疗师主持的研讨会，学习冥想技巧，以达到成为一名对自己或者他人心怀善意的禅定者。
This group was encouraged to meditate daily, and to report the time they spent doing so.
研究人员鼓励这些人每天都冥想，并且要汇报他们花了多长时间做这件事。
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok discovered that vagal tone increased significantly in people whomeditated, and hardly at all in those who did not.
弗雷德里克松教授和考克教授发现，这些人的每天冥想，使得他们的张力指数明显上升，而那些没有参与冥想学习的人几乎没什么变化。
Among meditators, those who started the experiment with the highest vagal-tone scoresreported the biggest increases in positive emotions.
在这些冥想者中，那些试验开始时迷走神经张力指数最高的人，在他们身上最大的变化就是保持积极情绪的时间更大长了。
Meditators who started with particularly low scores showed virtually no such boost.
而开始试验时张力指数特别低的冥想者，他们的变化就没有前者那么大。
Taken as a whole, these findings suggest high vagal tone makes it easier to generate positiveemotions and that this, in turn, drives vagal tone still higher.
总体来说，这些发现表明，在张力指数高的情况下更容易产生积极的情绪，而反过来，积极的情绪又会让指数变得更高。
That is both literally and metaphorically a positive feedback loop.
而这种现象无论是从字面上还是从修辞上，都称为正面的回馈循环。
Which is good news for the emotionally positive, but bad for the emotionally negative, for itimplies that those who most need a psychosomatic boost are incapable of generating one.
这些对拥有积极情绪的人是个好消息，而对总是弥漫着消极情绪的人可是个坏消息，因为它暗示，那些最需要身心健康的人是无法自己达成这个目的的。
A further experiment by Dr Kok suggests, however, that the grumpy need not give up all hope.
但考克博士进行了一项更深度的试验，认为那些郁郁寡欢的人也不要完全放弃希望。
A simpler procedure than meditation, namely reflecting at night on the day's socialconnections, did seem to cause some improvement to their vagal tone.
一个比冥想更简单的，在当天晚上即反映其一天社会关系的方式，似乎对这些人的张力指数有些提高作用。
This might allow even those with a negative outlook on life to bootstrap their way to a mentalstate from which they could then advance to the more powerful technique of meditation.
这可能让那些拥有消极人生观的人通过他们自己的方式，引导自身进入一种让他们可以拥有更强大冥想技巧的精神状态。
Whether, besides improving general health, the mechanism Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok havediscovered helps explain the placebo effect remains to be investigated.
除了改善一般健康，弗雷德里克松教授和考克教授发现的生理机制也在某种程度上说明了，安慰剂的效果仍有待研究。
But it might, because part of that effect seems to be the good feeling engendered by the fact ofbeing treated.
但是，也许安慰剂真的是作用的，因为它们的部分效果似乎产生了良好的幸福感，这是基于病人认为他们正在接受治疗这个事实。
More generally, doctors in the ancient world had a saying: a healthy mind in a healthy body.
更普遍的是，古时的医生都会说这样一句话：健康的心态，健康的身体。
This sort of work suggests that though this proverb is true, a better one might be, a healthymind for a healthy body.
上述研究表明，虽然这种谚语是正确的，可能这种描述会更好些，为了健康的身体，你必须保持健康的心态。
医学英语文章2
医学界致力于开发对药品可受益人群的检测
New drugs that boost the immune system’s ability to fight tumors may be one of the greatestmedical advances in years, cancer doctors say, pulling some patients from death’s door andkeeping them in remission for years.
增强免疫系统对抗癌细胞能力的新型药物有可能是近年来最大的医学进步之一，癌症医生说，它能将病人从鬼门关上拉回来，延长数年的寿命。
But the truth is that this happens for only a minority of patients. Now, doctors say, there is anew imperative to develop a test that will identify in advance which patients will benefit,sparing others the cost and possible side effects.
但事实是，这种情况只会发生在一小部分病人身上。现在，医生说，开发一项能提前鉴定出哪些病人能受益的检测是当务之急，它能省去其他病人大笔的费用和可能出现的副作用。
The drugs currently cost about $150,000 a year per patient — even more for higher doses usedin some cases — and the health system is eventually expected to spend billions or even tensof billions of dollars on the drugs each year.
目前，这种药物每个病人每年要花费约15万美元——在一些需要更大剂量的病例中甚至更多——预计医疗体系最终每年将在这种药物上投入数十亿、甚至是上百亿美元资金。
“We don’t want to give these to 100 percent of the patients if only 59 percent or 20 percent willbenefit,” said Dr. David R. Gandara, a professor and lung cancer specialist at the University ofCalifornia, Davis. Being able to test for a biomarker that could predict the drugs’ efficacy“would make this new class of drugs easier on the wallet, the national health wallet,” he said.
“如果只有59%或者20%的病人能从中受益，我们不希望将这种药物开给100%的病人，”加州大学戴维斯分校的教授、肺癌专家大卫·R·甘德拉医生(Dr. David R. Gandara)说。如果有一项技术可以通过检测生物标志物来展示药物有效与否，“将使这种新型药物对钱包造成的压力减小，我说的是国家医疗体系的钱包。”他说。
But developing such a test has proved tricky so far, for ethical as well as scientific reasons.Some doctors said it would be unfair to withhold the new drugs from patients based on a testif there was still even a slight chance that the drugs would help.
但迄今为止，出于道德伦理和科学技术的原因，对这样一种检测手段的开发一直步履维艰。一些医生认为，哪怕只存在一丝这种药物发挥作用的机会，仅因为一项检测就不把药物给予病人都是不公平的。
“We don’t want to be wrong, because these medicines have an effect that, in some cases, isdurable for years,” said Dr. Jedd D. Wolchok, chief of the melanoma and immunotherapeuticsservice at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “We don’t want to have an imperfectbiomarker.”
“我们不想犯错，因为这些药物在某些病例中，药效会持续数年，”纪念斯隆-凯特琳癌症中心(Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center)黑色素瘤和免疫疗法服务部(melanoma and immunotherapeutics service)负责人杰德·D·沃夏克博士(Dr.Jedd D. Wolchok)说。“我们不希望有一个不完美的生物标志物。”
The need for such biomarkers is illustrated in a study led by Dr. Wolchok that is to bepresented on Sunday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of ClinicalOncology. The study is being published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.
沃夏克领导的一项研究说明了对于这样的生物标志物的需求，研究将在芝加哥周日的美国临床肿瘤学会(American Society of Clinical Oncology)年度会议上获得展示。《新英格兰医学期刊》(New EnglandJournal of Medicine)也将在其网站上发表这项研究。
The 945-patient study shows that the combination of two immune-boosting drugs fromBristol-Myers Squibb — Opdivo and Yervoy — is more effective than either drug alone intreating advanced melanoma. Patients treated with both drugs went a median of 11.5 monthsbefore their disease worsened, a longer reprieve than the 6.9 months for those who receivedonly Opdivo and 2.9 months for those who took Yervoy.
这项覆盖945名病人的研究表明，两种来自百时美施贵宝(Bristol-Myers Squibb)的提高免疫力的药物——纳武单抗(Opdivo)和伊匹单抗(Yervoy)——搭配在一起，在治疗晚期黑色素瘤中比任意一种更有效。同时使用这两种药物的病人在病情恶化前有平均11.5个月的时间，相较只使用纳武单抗的6.9个月和只使用伊匹单抗的2.9个月，病人获得了更长的寿命。
But the combination also caused serious side effects like diarrhea and colitis in 55 percent ofpatients, compared with only 16.3 percent for Opdivo alone and 27.3 percent for Yervoy alone.
但药物搭配在一起也导致了严重的副作用，如55%的病人出现腹泻和结肠炎，而只使用纳武单抗的病人中这一比例只有16.3%，只使用伊匹单抗的病人中这一比例只有27.3%。
Dr. Antoni Ribas, a melanoma specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wasnot involved in the study, said Opdivo alone might be just as good as the combination formany patients, with far fewer side effects, but that a biomarker test was needed.
加州大学洛杉矶分校的黑色素瘤专家安东尼·瑞巴斯医生(Dr. Antoni Ribas)没有参与到这项研究当中，他说，对于许多病人来说，只使用纳武单抗的疗效也许和药物组合一样好，它远没有那么多副作用，只是需要一项生物标志物检测。
“The combination is outstanding, but we have to figure out who needs the combination asopposed to the single agent,” he said.
“药物组合很出色，但我们必须搞清楚哪些病人需要它们，而不是只需要某一种药物。”他说。
The main test being explored is for PD-L1, a protein produced by cancer cells that, in effect,orders the immune system to stand down and not attack.
现在正在研发的主要检测针对的是PD-L1，一种由癌细胞产生的蛋白质，它能使免疫系统“解除戒备”、不攻击癌细胞。
The Merck drug Keytruda, Opdivo and other similar treatments work by keeping this “standdown” order from being received by the immune cells. So it makes sense that the drugs workbest against tumors that are issuing such an order and that they may not work at all againsttumors that are not issuing the order.
纳武单抗和默克(Merck)的Keytruda等类似药物，通过阻止免疫细胞接收到“解除戒备”的命令来发挥作用。因此一种合情合理的想法是，这类药品最擅长对抗发布这类指令的肿瘤，而不是那些不会发出相关指令的肿瘤。
Studies by Bristol-Myers and Merck as well as Roche, which is also developing such a drug, haveshown that there was a much greater success rate using the drugs to treat tumors that werepositive for PD-L1.
百时美施贵宝、默克与罗氏(Roche)等研发此类药物的公司的研究显示，此类药物在治疗PD-L1呈阳性的肿瘤时有着大得多的成功率。
Still, at least a small number of patients whose tumors do not produce meaningful amounts ofPD-L1 also seem to benefit from these drugs. So some doctors say it is wrong to withholdthe drugs from patients whose tumors test negative for PD-L1.
然而，仍有少数体内肿瘤甚少释放PD-L1的患者可以受益于此类药物，因此一些医生表示，不应拒绝给出这些药物，不让PD-L1呈阴性反应的患者用药。
In the melanoma study, patients whose tumors were positive for PD-L1 did as well on Opdivoalone as with the combination, as measured by the delay before their cancer worsened. Oneimplication might be that those patients should get only Opdivo, while others should get thecombination.
针对黑色素瘤的研究中，就延迟癌症恶化时间这个标准而言，PD-L1呈阳性反应的病患在只服用纳武单抗时，与服用药物组合效果相同。这可能显示这些病患应当单独使用纳武单抗治疗，其他病患则服用药物组合。
But Dr. Michael B. Atkins, deputy director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive CancerCenter in Washington, said that even for PD-L1-positive tumors, the combination was betterat shrinking the abnormalities.
但乔治城大学隆巴底综合癌症中心(Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center)的副主任迈可‧B‧埃特金斯博士(Dr. Michael B. Atkins)表示，即便是PD-L1呈阳性反应的肿瘤，药物组合在缩小肿瘤上的表现仍然更佳。
“The biomarker isn’t good enough to make any decisions on it,” said Dr. Atkins, who was notinvolved in the study.
“这个生物标志物不足以成为治疗决策的根据，”未参与研究的埃特金斯博士表示。
PD-L1 is not the only possible biomarker. Scientists are finding that the drugs work bestagainst tumors with lots of mutations. Researchers reported on Friday that a genetic signaturecould identify a small subset of patients with colorectal and other types of cancer who would belikely to benefit from Keytruda.
PD-L1不是唯一可能带来帮助的生物标志物。科学家发现，这些药物在对抗有着多种突变的肿瘤时效果最好。研究者周五公布，一种标记基因可以指认出一小部分结肠癌及可能会受益于药物Keytruda的其他癌症类型。
Dr. Ribas and colleagues suggest examining tumor samples to see if immune cells are present.The drugs appear to work best when immune cells are already in or near the tumor, ready toattack when the “stand down” order is lifted by a drug. If the immune cells are not present,then merely lifting the order may not be enough.
瑞巴斯博士及同僚指出，需要检验肿瘤样本中是否存有免疫细胞。如果免疫细胞已经位于肿瘤内或邻近部位，可以在“解除戒备”的指令被移除时进行攻击，这些药物就能达到最佳效果。倘若免疫细胞不存在，那移除指令也很难产生效果。
Merck is working with a diagnostic company, NanoString Technologies, to develop a test thatmeasures activity levels in genes associated with immune response.
默克正在与诊断技术公司“奈米序列科技(NanoString Technologies)合作，研发一种测试，用以测量与免疫反应相关的基因的活跃程度。
A downside for drug companies is that a test can narrow the market for a drug.
对制药公司不利的是，测试会缩减一种药物的市场。
Shares of Bristol-Myers fell nearly 7 percent on Friday based on what would seem to be positiveclinical trial results showing that Opdivo could prolong the lives of patients with the mostcommon form of lung cancer.
百时美施贵宝的股票在周五下跌了近百分之七，尽管一项临床实验结果似乎带来了好消息，显示纳武单抗可以延长罹患主要类型肺癌的病患的生命。
But there was a big survival difference in patients with PD-L1-positive tumors and patientswhose tumors test negative for the protein. For those with PD-L1-negative tumors, therewas no real difference between Opdivo and the generic chemotherapy drug docetaxel. Thisinformation dashed investors’ hopes that Opdivo might be used by all patients with that form oflung cancer.
但PD-L1这种蛋白质呈阳性与否意味着患者存活时间上的很大差异。对于PD-L1呈阴性的肿瘤患者而言，纳武单抗与化疗仿制药多西他赛(docetaxel)的效果无异。投资者曾希望此类肺癌的所有病患都会使用纳武单抗，但这个消息让他们希望破灭。
Opdivo did cause fewer side effects than docetaxel, but insurers might not be willing to pay somuch more for that reason alone.
纳武单抗的副作用仍比多西他赛要少，但保险业者并不愿意仅为这个理由支付其高额费用。
Docetaxel costs $6,000 for six cycles of treatment; Opdivo used for the same length of timecosts about $60,000, said Dr. Patrick W. Cobb, an oncologist in Billings, Mont.
蒙大拿州比灵斯的肿瘤科医生派崔克‧W‧柯布(Partrick W. Cobb)表示，多西他赛六次疗程要价6千美元(约合3万7千人民币)，同样时长疗程的纳武单抗则需6万美元。
“The cost of treating these patients will be far higher than in the past,” Dr. Cobb said on awebinar sponsored by Kantar Health, a consulting firm. “We really need a way of determiningwhich patients are likely to benefit from these agents.”
“治疗这些病患的支出会远超以往，”柯布医生在由咨询公司坎达健康(Kantar Health)赞助的网络研讨会中表示。“我们真的需要找到一个方法，来分辨哪些病患可能从这些药物获得益处。”
医学英语文章3
身心医学 要相信你的身体很棒
Science and technology - Psychosomatic medicine
科学技术
Psychosomatic medicine
身心医学
Think yourself well
要相信，你的身体很棒
You can. But it helps to think well of yourself in the first place
你可以拥有很好的体魄。但首先，你要自我感觉好，这会有帮助的。
THE link between mind and body is terrain into which many medical researchers, fearingridicule, dare not tread.
许多医学研究者都不敢探究躯体和心理的关系，因为他们害怕，踏进这一领域会受人嘲笑。
But perhaps more should do so.
但也许，研究这方面的人应该多一些才好。
For centuries, doctors have recognised the placebo effect, in which the illusion of treatment,such as pills without an active ingredient, produces real medical benefits.
几个世纪以来，医生已逐渐认可了安慰剂效应。因为患者会产生错觉，认为自己在接受治疗。比如，服用无活性成分的药片也能产生实际疗效。
More recently, respectable research has demonstrated that those who frequently experiencepositive emotions live longer and healthier lives.
根据最近的可靠的研究表明，平时积极乐观的人会活得更长久、更健康。
They have fewer heart attacks, forexample, and fewer colds too.
比如，他们心脏病发作的次数更少，也很少感冒。
Why this happens, though, is only slowly becoming understood.
然而，人们才开始慢慢了解这种情况发生的原因。
What is needed is an experiment that points out specific and measurable ways in which suchemotions alter an individual's biology.
人们需要的是做一场实验，明确这样的情绪是通过怎样具体的、可测量的方式来改变人的生理状况。
And a study published in Psychological Science, by Barbara Fredrickson and Bethany Kok at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, does precisely that.
北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校的芭芭拉·弗雷德里克松和贝瑟尼·可可就是按照这个思路做了一项研究，并在《心理科学》上发表了相关论文。
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok concentrated their attentions on the vagus nerve. This nerve startsin the brain and runs, via numerous branches, to several thoracic and abdominal organsincluding the heart.
弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士把注意力集中在迷走神经上。这对神经起于颅腔，通过无数分支与胸腔、腹腔的几个脏器相连。
Among its jobs is to send signals telling that organ to slow down during moments of calm andsafety.
它的其中一项工作就是为器官发送信号，让它们在躯体平静、安宁的状态下放缓节奏。
How effectively the vagus nerve is working can be tracked by monitoring someone's heart rateas he breathes in and out.
他们通过监测一个人吸气、呼气时的心率，追踪记录迷走神经如何有效地工作。
Healthy vagal function is reflected in a subtle increase in heart rate while breathing in and asubtle decrease while breathing out.
如果吸气时心率略微增加，呼气时略微下降，则说明迷走神经工作正常。
The difference yields an index of vagal tone, and the value of this index is known to beconnected with health.
两次心率之差构成迷走神经张力指数。人们都知道该指数与健康程度有关。
Low values are, for example, linked to inflammation and heart attacks.
例如，低指数就与炎症、心脏病发作几率有联系。
What particularly interested Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok was recent work that showed somethingelse about the vagal-tone index: people with high tone are better than those with low atstopping bad feelings getting overblown.
让弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士特别感兴趣的是最近的研究，因为它显示了迷走神经张力指数的另一个性质：与张力指数低的人相比，指数高的人能更好地防止不良情绪失控。
They also show more positive emotions in general.
研究也显示，指数高的人大体上情绪更乐观。
This may provide the missing link between emotional well-being and physical health.
这也许弥补了心理健康与生理健康之间缺失的环节。
In particular, the two researchers found, during a preliminary study they carried out in 2010,that the vagal-tone values of those who experience positive emotions over a period of time goup.
尤其值得注意的是，两位研究人员在2010年的初步探究中发现，人们如果体验一段时间的积极情绪，迷走神经张力指数会就增加。
This left them wondering whether positive emotions and vagal tone drive one another in avirtuous spiral.
这为他们留下了疑念，积极情绪与迷走神经张力是否处于一个良性循环之中，互相促进?
They therefore conducted an experiment on 65 of the university's staff, to try to find out.
因此，他们对本校的65名员工展开实验，一探究竟。
They measured all of their volunteers' vagal tones at the beginning of the experiment and atits conclusion nine weeks later.
他们在实验开始时测量了所有志愿者的迷走神经张力指数，九周后实验结束时又再次测量。
In between, the volunteers were asked to go each evening to a website especially designed forthe purpose, and rate their most powerful emotional experiences that day.
在实验期间，他们要求志愿者每天晚上登录一家专门为此设计的网站，为当天所经历的各种最强烈情绪评定等级。
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok asked their volunteers to consider nine positive emotions, such ashope, joy and love, and 11 negative ones, including anger, boredom and disgust.
弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士为志愿者提供了九种可供考虑的积极情绪选项，如期待、开心、热爱，还有十一种消极情绪，包括愤怒、疲倦、厌恶。
They were asked to rate, on a five-point scale, whether—and how strongly—they had felt eachemotion.
两位博士要求他们以五分制一一打分：是否有这样的情绪、情绪有多强烈。
One point meant not at all; five meant extremely.
1分代表完全没有，5分代表非常强烈。
In addition, half the participants, chosen at random, were invited to a series of workshops runby a licensed therapist, to learn a meditation technique intended to engender in themeditator a feeling of goodwill towards both himself and others.
此外，他们还随机邀请了一半志愿者到一个注册治疗师开的一系列工作坊中，学习冥想的技巧，旨在让冥想者产生一种善待自己、善待他人的情绪。
This group was encouraged to meditate daily, and to report the time they spent doing so.
他们鼓励这组人每天冥想，并向他们报告冥想用的时间。
Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok discovered that vagal tone increased significantly in people whomeditated, and hardly at all in those who did not.
弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士发现，冥想的人的迷走神经张力显著增加，而那些不冥想的人几乎没有任何变化。
Among meditators, those who started the experiment with the highest vagal-tone scoresreported the biggest increases in positive emotions.
在众多冥想者之中，那些实验一开始就拥有最高指数的人，积极情绪增加的幅度最大;
Meditators who started with particularly low scores showed virtually no such boost.
而一开始指数就很低的人，几乎没有这样的奇效。
Taken as a whole, these findings suggest high vagal tone makes it easier to generate positiveemotions and that this, in turn, drives vagal tone still higher.
作为一个整体来看，这些发现意味着，这迷走神经张力指数越高，越容易产生积极情绪;反过来，积极情绪又能促进指数的提升。
That is both literally and metaphorically a positive feedback loop.
无论是从直观还是隐含的角度看，这都是一个正反馈循环。
Which is good news for the emotionally positive, but bad for the emotionally negative, for itimplies that those who most need a psychosomatic boost are incapable of generating one.
对于情绪乐观的人来说，这是个好消息;但对于消极的人来说，情况正好相反，因为它意味着，那些最需要振作精神的人却往往无法产生积极情绪。
A further experiment by Dr Kok suggests, however, that the grumpy need not give up all hope.
然而可可博士的进一步研究表明，脾气不好的人也尚存希望。
A simpler procedure than meditation, namely reflecting at night on the day's socialconnections, did seem to cause some improvement to their vagal tone.
有一种比冥想简单的方法，即每天晚上对白天的社交活动进行反思，似乎能在一定程度上提高迷走神经张力指数。
This might allow even those with a negative outlook on life to bootstrap their way to a mentalstate from which they could then advance to the more powerful technique of meditation.
就算是对生活不抱希望的人，也可能通过这种方式自我解脱，达到另一种精神状态，然后他们可以进一步使用效果更好的冥想技巧。
Whether, besides improving general health, the mechanism Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok havediscovered helps explain the placebo effect remains to be investigated.
除了提高综合健康水平，弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士发现的机制是否有助于解释安慰剂效应，还有待进一步研究。
But it might, because part of that effect seems to be the good feeling engendered by the fact ofbeing treated.
但这的确有可能，因为安慰剂效应就包括实验中因治疗产生的良好情绪。
More generally, doctors in the ancient world had a saying: a healthy mind in a healthy body.
更为普遍的是，古代的医生就有个说法：身体好，精气儿足。
This sort of work suggests that though this proverb is true, a better one might be, a healthymind for a healthy body.
而这个实验则启发人们，尽管谚语说得有理，但精气儿足，身体好可能才更准确。