按摩帮助癌症病人对抗病魔

 

Massage¹ Helps Cancer Patients Cope

按摩帮助癌症病人对抗病魔

 

Massage therapists are on hand nearly every day at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, which is part of the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston. They provide a therapy that is aimed not so much at curing the disease, but at alleviating² the stress and emotional fatigue³ of their patients.

 

Cancer patient Celeste was a believer in the benefits of massage before being diagnosed and is an even bigger believer now.

 

Celeste: There is something about another person touching⁴ you that… it just makes you feel good. And that it can gives you hope that they are not scared of you, you know just because you have cancer.

 

Celeste says many people are afraid of cancer and those who have it. She says her own family members even had trouble saying the word for a long time after she told them that she had a malignant⁵ tumor⁶ in her throat. She says her longtime massage therapist turned her away.

 

Celeste: When I got diagnosed, I called my regular massage therapist that I was going to and she refused to massage me because I had cancer. And I told her that my doctor said it was okay, but she said she had been taught never to massage someone who had cancer because it could spread the cancer.

 

Medical experts say there is no risk to cancer patients from massage, as long as the therapist avoids the area of the body where the cancer is present.  M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is working with massage therapists in the Houston area to educate them about cancer and to let them know they can provide services to cancer patients.

 

Massage therapist Curtis Beinhorn, who works full-time⁷ at M.D. Anderson, says cancer patients need massage more than those who are healthy.

 

Curtis Beinhorn: Many patients feel fatigue, nausea⁸, pain and anxiety. They have psycho-social issues that surround them as well as their families and massage takes a lot of that stress away. It helps them to relax.

 

M.D. Anderson, which is recognized around the world for its advanced cancer treatments, introduced massage and other non-standard therapies partly because research had shown their effectiveness. But M.D. Anderson Wellness Center administrator⁹ Laura Baynham-Fletcher says it was also in response to patient demand.

 

Laura Baynham-Fletcher: We did a survey of our patients and about 80 percent of the patients here at Anderson who responded to the survey stated that they were engaging in some type of complementary therapy, whether it be a spiritual practice they brought to cancer or something that they started doing as a result of their diagnosis¹⁰.

 

Other complementary therapies now being offered at M.D. Anderson include acupuncture¹¹, special diet and exercise programs and herbal medicines. But Laura Baynham-Fletcher says these therapies should not be seen as alternatives to conventional therapies.

 

Laura Baynham-Fletcher: We actually look at these therapies as complementary, so we do not even use the term alternative because that implies that these therapies might be used instead of conventional therapies.

 

Conventional cancer treatments include chemotherapy and radiation, both of which can produce debilitating¹² side effects. Curtis Beinhorn says patients provide constant testimony¹³ to the efficacy of massage in reducing these maladies.

 

Curtis Beinhorn: We always take note of what they say. They always leave notes about how wonderful they felt, how they were able to relax, how they were able to get some sleep the night afterwards, and that it made such a big difference to feel connected again.

 

Massage therapy is now recognized by the American Cancer Society as an important complementary therapy for cancer patients.  M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is also working with a university in Shanghai, China to study and test other ancient therapies that may also help people who are fighting a disease like cancer.

 

Greg Flakus, VOA news.

 

注释：

therapist [5WerEpIst] n. 临床专家

alleviate¹⁴ [E5li:vieit] vt. 减轻痛苦

tumor [5tju:mE] n. 瘤

diagnose [5daiE^nEuz] v. 诊断

nausea [5nC:sjE] n. 反胃

debilitate¹⁵ [di5biliteit] vt. 使虚弱

1 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

2 alleviating   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• If it's alleviating pain,who knows what else it's doing? 如果它减轻了疼痛，天知道还影响什么？
• Measuring poverty is not the same as alleviating it, of course. 当然，衡量贫困和减轻贫困是截然不同的。

3 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

4 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

5 malignant   

adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Alexander got a malignant slander.亚历山大受到恶意的诽谤。
• He started to his feet with a malignant glance at Winston.他爬了起来，不高兴地看了温斯顿一眼。

6 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

7 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

8 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

9 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

10 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

11 acupuncture   

n.针灸，针刺法，针疗法

参考例句：

• Written records show that acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty.文字记载表明，宋朝就已经有了针灸。
• It's known that acupuncture originated in China.众所周知，针灸起源于中国。

12 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

13 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

14 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

15 debilitate   

v. 使衰弱

参考例句：

• Stewart took over yesterday when Russell was debilitated by a stomach virus.昨天拉塞尔因肠胃病毒感染身体不适，由斯图尔特暂时接手。
• Their efforts to debilitate the political will of the Western alliance came to nought.他们试图削弱西方联盟的政治决心的努力结果等于零。