美国国家公共电台 NPR For People With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, More Exercise Isn't Better

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

A new study has found that most skin moisturizers are labeled incorrectly. We'll hear about that, but first, there are new guidelines for treating chronic¹ fatigue² syndrome³, or MECFS. At least a million people in the U.S. are affected⁴ by this disorder⁵, but for years, patients have been giving - given conflicting advice about how to treat their symptoms. Well, now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued new guidelines for patients, and here's NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE⁶: When Julie Rehmeyer was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome a decade ago, she had a lot of trouble getting help from her doctor.

JULIE REHMEYER: He had no tests, no treatments, no other doctors to recommend, nothing.

DOUCLEFF: So Rehmeyer, who's a science writer, started researching the disease herself. She went straight to the CDC website and was surprised to find that exercise could help. There were even details about which exercises to do and how many reps for each.

REHMEYER: I love exercise. When I first found myself just astonishingly tired, I thought, OK, somehow I've gotten out of shape. So building up my exercise was my very first strategy for dealing⁷ with the illness.

DOUCLEFF: But the strategy didn't work. In fact, it backfired, and she got worse. Then one day she tried to go to the grocery store, and...

REHMEYER: By the time I got home, I was just exhausted⁸. And that night I couldn't even lift my spoon to my mouth.

DOUCLEFF: When you talk to people with chronic fatigue syndrome and doctors that treat them, you hear stories like Rehmeyer's over and over again. Dr. Nancy Klimas has studied the disease for 30 years at Nova Southeastern University in Miami. She says the problem stems from a longstanding misperception, a damaging misperception...

NANCY KLIMAS: That you could exercise yourself out of this illness. That's just not true.

DOUCLEFF: In fact, Klimas says, the opposite is typically true.

KLIMAS: While in most chronic conditions if you exercise you feel better, in this condition if you exercise you get worse. That's one of the signatures, if you would, of this illness.

DOUCLEFF: But still, Klimas says, health websites and even some health authorities continue to recommend controversial exercise programs. Just this past week, the National Health Service in the U.K. announced that it's reviewing its recommendations.

KLIMAS: Those guidelines have hurt a lot of people, and they were - they were implemented⁹ all around the world. You know, one single study in England created a guideline that was so harmful.

DOUCLEFF: Now, people shouldn't swing all the way over into the other direction, Klimas says, and avoid all exercise altogether, but they do need to be very, very careful and ideally have the help from a doctor. Jennifer McQuiston, a spokesperson with the CDC, says that's the advice the agency is trying to emphasize with their new guidelines.

JENNIFER MCQUISTON: So one of the really important parts of our website revision was really emphasizing that patients need to be working very carefully with a doctor, and preferably one who understands MECFS and that whatever program they decide to do needs to be tailored to them and their specific situation.

DOUCLEFF: Because with chronic fatigue syndrome, a one-size-fits-all approach can do you harm, she says, especially when it comes to exercise. Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 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。

3 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

9 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句