Lung patients get singing therapy

Lung patients get singing therapy肺病患者歌唱疗法

Doctors in London are investigating how singing can help seriously ill patients improve their breathing control.

 

Regular classes are being held at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

 

Hundreds of patients have joined the sessions, and 60 have been enrolled¹ in a clinical trial which is expected to publish results by the end of the year.

 

Some patients who have joined the sessions say singing has transformed their lives.

 

Visitors to the Royal Brompton's Victoria Ward² may be taken aback（吃惊） to hear the sound of music wafting³ down the corridor, together with banter（做减胖治疗法）, laughter and a cacophony⁴ （刺耳的声音）of oral exercises.

 

This is a place that specialises in high-dependency care for patients with severe lung disease.

 

But it is also the venue⁵ for regular singing classes.

 

The voice trainer, Phoene Cave, says she is seeing improvements in breathing control even within one session.

 

"I'm helping⁶ them to become aware of their bodies in a way that they're not used to," she said.

 

"I'm helping them become aware of their breathing patterns in a way they're not used to, and I'm helping them to relax and expand and have fun and to laugh and to connect with other people. "

 

The class begins with some vocal（声音的） limbering up, including collective sighing, buzzing noises and ha-ha sounds up and down the scales.

 

Then they move on to songs including "Drunken Sailor", "Cockles and Mussels" and "Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me".

 

Party atmosphere

 

There is a party atmosphere, yet these men and women, young and old, have a range of lung disorders⁷, including asthma,（哮喘） cystic（囊肿性纤维化） fibrosis （纤维症）and emphysema.（肺气肿）

 

For four years John Townsend, 69, has been living with severe chronic⁸ obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) - a condition that kills 30,000 people in the UK every year.

 

He is connected to an oxygen supply at all times. He admits it has been a struggle just to keep going.

 

"You've just got to push yourself. You've got no choice," he said.

 

"Either you do that or you finish up lying in bed all the time. You give up."

 

John says the effect of singing has been staggering.

 

"Everything I do is now easier," he said.

 

"Hoovering, doing the washing, any chores（零工）, whatever you like.

 

"And basically I can do anything a normal person can do except I can't do it at speed. That's the difference."

 

It is a similar story for Doris Borucinski, 85, who has had debilitating⁹ lung disease for 30 years.

 

"My son said to me 'I can't believe that all this time you've been without any help and you go to one hospital and they do all this for you'.

 

"I started doing my own cleaning, washing, everything."

 

Clinical trial

 

There are other singing groups for people with lung disease, but very few, if any, in hospital as part of NHS treatment.

 

It is clear the patients enjoy it. Researchers now want to assess its impact on breathing patterns and control, and are running a clinical trial.

 

Dr Nicholas Hopkinson, who is leading the study at the Royal Brompton, says there is a potential problem with trying to teach breathing techniques.

 

Patients sometimes become even more conscious of the struggle to get air in and out, and that can make matters worse.

 

"We have tried to approach it from the side, to train people to use their voice and their breathing for a different purpose, for singing, hoping that the skills that they gain through that in terms of controlling their breathing will actually be helpful in day-to-day life," he said.

 

The trial will finish in the autumn. It is hoped the results will be out by the end of the year.

 

But for patients like John Townsend the evidence is plain to see, and to hear.

 

"We get people from the wards¹⁰ coming and joining in," he said.

 

"You can hear it all the way along the wards. And people are cheerful. They don't say 'what's that singing?'.

 

"They become cheerful and they're not even singing. So of course it's a great thing." （本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

 

1 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

3 wafting   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But that gentle fragrance was clearly wafting from the window. 但那股淡淡的香气，却分明是从母亲的窗户溢出的。 来自互联网
• The picture-like XueGuo, wafting dense flavor of Japan, gives us a kind of artistic enjoyment. 画一般的雪国，飘溢着浓郁的日本风情，给人以美的享受。 来自互联网

4 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

5 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 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。

10 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。