Green Light May Help Ease Migraines
VOA News
Last updated on: May 19, 2016 11:06 AM (source)
Green Light May Help Ease Migraines
綠光可能有助於紓緩偏頭痛
VOA News
May 19, 2016 11:06 AM
Exposure to green light could help those who suffer migraine and post-traumatic headaches, according to a new study.
Writing in the journal Brain, researchers from Harvard Medical School say “pure-wavelength green light” helps ease sensitivity to light, called photophobia, and can reduce the intensity of headaches.
The researchers say more than 80 percent of migraine sufferers have photophobia, leading many to seek relief by isolating themselves in a dark room, unable to perform daily tasks.
"It is their inability to endure light that most often disables them," says Rami Burstein, Professor of Anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School, and lead author of the study.
For the study, researchers asked patients experiencing a migraine to report how different color and intensities of light impacted their headache. At the light levels of a typical office, the patients reported that of blue, green, amber or red lights, all but green made their headaches worse.
Researchers said patients reported that green light reduced the intensity of their pain by about 20 percent.
The reason: Green light appears to create the least amount of electrical signals generated by the eye's retina and brain's cortex.
"My hope is that patients will be able to benefit directly from these findings one day very soon," said Burstein, who is trying to devise an economically viable light bulb that can emit “pure green light at a low intensity.” He also envisions sunglasses that can block out all light but green.
一項新的研究發現，置身於綠色光線中或許對偏頭痛(migraine)和創傷後(post-traumatic)頭痛的患者有幫助。
哈佛大學醫學院的此研究發表於《腦》期刊，其研究人員表示，「波長純淨的綠光」有助於緩解患者對光線的敏感度，即所謂的畏光(photophobia)，並能減低頭疼的強度(intensity)。
研究人員也說，超過80% 的偏頭痛患者會畏光，因此許多病患會把自己孤立在黑暗的房間裡，藉此尋求頭痛的紓緩(relief)，因而無法執行日常的工作。
「無法忍受光線是最常使頭痛患者失能(disable)的原因」，該研究的主要作者(lead author)拉米‧伯斯坦(Rami Burstein)教授如此表示。伯斯坦教授是貝斯以色列女執事醫療中心(BIDMC)和哈佛醫學院的麻醉學教授。
在這項研究中，研究人員請偏頭痛病患回報不同顏色和強度的光線對頭痛症狀的影響。根據患者的回報，在一般辦公室的燈光強度下，藍色、綠色、橙黃色(amber)或紅色的光線之中，除了綠色以外的(all but . . .)光線都會讓他們頭痛加劇。
研究人員說，病患在回報中表示，綠光能減輕他們約20% 的疼痛。
這主要的原因在於由綠光引起眼睛視網膜(retina)和大腦皮質(cortex)所產生的電子訊號量似是最少的。
伯斯坦教授說：「我希望患者很快就能直接受益於這些研究結果。」他目前正試著設計(devise)一款會散發(emit)「低強度純綠光」且商業上可行的(viable)燈泡。同時他也預見(envision)了一款可以阻擋綠光之外的光線的太陽眼鏡。
Language Notes
exposure (n) 暴露於；置身於
* 後常接介系詞 “to”
migraine [`maɪgren] (n) 偏頭痛
traumatic [trɔ`mætɪk] (a) 外傷的；創傷的
* trauma [`trɔmə] (n) 外傷；(感情上的)創傷
ease (v) 紓緩，使舒緩；減輕
disable (v) 使失去能力
* 反義字：enable (v) 使能夠；賦予……能力
retina [`rɛtɪnə] (n) 視網膜
devise (v) 設計；發明；策劃
* 名詞結尾為 “-ce” ：device (n) 設備，裝置
viable (a) 可行的
emit [ɪ`mɪt] (v) 散發，放射
envision (v) 想像，展望，預見
Check your vocabulary!
Fill in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary changes. After you finish, highlight the blanks to reveal the hidden answers.
He devised a new method of teaching writing.
The alarm emits infra-red rays which are used to detect any intruder.
Everyday around midnight, she could not fall asleep because of a severe migraine.
He suffered a traumatic brain injury.
The paint came off as the result of exposure to the rain.
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A new study claims exposure to green light can reduce the severity of migraines. 
