VOA慢速英语--拳击计划帮助帕金森病患者

Boxing Program Helps People With Parkinson's Disease

The physical fitness¹ business Rock Steady Boxing NOVA gym opened in McLean, Virginia last December.

That was the good news for 75-year-old Neil Eisner. He was diagnosed² with Parkinson’s disease six years ago. He finds the boxing a helpful way to fight back against the disease.

Parkinson’s disease affects the nervous system and causes people's muscles to become weak and their arms and legs to shake.

Rock Steady Boxing, or RSB, was designed to help people with Parkinson's. The exercises in the program are meant to build specific skills.

One involves hitting a bag to work on strength. Another has trainees³ crawling across the floor. Eisner says the exercises help him perform everyday tasks like moving around and getting in and out of bed.

Some strengthening exercises work the vocal⁴ cords.

Eisner said his trainer is working with him to speak out loudly.

"One of the things interestingly enough is you [Parkinson's patients] tend to have a lower voice. When you have that lower voice, people can't hear you, you don't realize it. So, he asks and is getting us to bring up our voice clearly and more loudly."

Staying active important

Private trainer Alec Langstein likes working with older people because he understands their health issues and the need for them to stay active.

"My aunt has a gym in Westchester, New York, and she does a Rock Steady Boxing program there," he said. "She invited me up to her gym to check out the program. She thought it would be a perfect fit for what I do. I helped out with a few classes, and it was just, I thought, an amazing program."

The Rock Steady Boxing nonprofit company was created in 2006 by lawyer Scott C. Newman. He was looking for ways to do physical exercise after being diagnosed with Parkinson's at the age of 40. Since then, more than 500 boxing programs have been started in the U.S. and around the world.

Langstein went to the organization's headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, to become an RSB-certified trainer. A few months later, he opened his Rock Steady Boxing NOVA gym.

Langstein said that the RSB program centers attention on teaching balance and coordination⁵ between the hand and eye. It also teaches reaction and foot movement.

“So when I yell⁶ out certain numbers, they have to move and react at the same time. So, the brain and the body is working together.”

He added that it also helps people release some of the anger they may have from having the disease.

Improving quality of life

To understand how RSB can help Parkinson's patients, physical therapist Danielle Sequira says it is important to know what causes the symptoms.

She said that Parkinson's affects the dopamine-producing cells in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical that is important to the operation of the nervous system. A loss of dopamine can make movement difficult.

Boxing and other exercises do not cure the disease or stop the loss of dopamine. But, they can improve the patient's life experience.

Sequira said research shows that exercise helps the brain use dopamine better. She adds that, after working with Parkinson’s patients, her goal is for them to start an exercise program out in the community.

RSB seems to have helped Victoria Hebert reduce the symptoms of her Parkinson's. She has a tremor⁷, or shake, in her left hand, and says some situations can make the shaking worse.

"Being cold, being hot, sitting with a crowd that I'm not real comfortable with, I'll start shaking. I end up having to sit on my hand just to keep it still."

But with this crowd, Hebert feels no need to hide the disease.

"That's the big part of it, sharing experiences with others," she said.

"I have to say…Over eight years of time I've never met another person with Parkinson's. Then, I came here, and it was like a whole class of 20, 25 people with it. It was kind of surprising to me, kind of surprising that I, myself, didn't reach out to anybody before that."

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

gym, gymnasium –n. a place where people go to exercise that often has equipment and weights

diagnosed –adj. recognized to have a disease or illness

crawl –v. to move on your hands and knees

vocal cords –n. pieces of tissue in the throat that permit speech

check out –(informal) v. to look into, to learn something about

coordination –n. the process of causing something to work together correctly

yell –v. to shout, to make a loud noise

therapist –n. someone trained in treaty illness especially without drugs or operations

symptoms –n. a change which shows a disease or sickness

1 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。

2 diagnosed   

诊断( diagnose的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some foetal malformations cannot be diagnosed until late in pregnancy. 有些胎儿的畸形部位得等到妊娠后期才能诊断出来。
• He diagnosed the trouble that caused the engine to knock. 他找出了引擎咔咔响的毛病所在。

3 trainees   

新兵( trainee的名词复数 )； 练习生； 接受训练的人； 训练中的动物

参考例句：

• We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
• The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。

4 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

5 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

6 yell   

vi./n.号叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• This gave them a chance to yell.这给了他们大声喊叫的机会。
• When his schoolmate made the last goal,the boy gave out with an untrammeled yell.那个男孩在他的同学踢进最后一球时不禁纵声欢呼。

7 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。