Playing simple card games, such as snap, can help stroke patients with their recovery, say Canadian researchers. Playing Jenga, bingo or a games consol like Wii worked equally well.

加拿大的研究人员近日表示，多玩儿像Snap这样的纸牌游戏有助于中风病人的康复。玩儿层层叠，宾果游戏或者Wii这样的体感游戏机也有同样的好处。

They told the Lancet Neurology that the type of task used for motor rehabilitation¹ might be less relevant, as long as it is intensive, repetitive and gets the hands and arms moving.

研究人员接受《柳叶刀神经病学》杂志采访时表示，采用何种恢复方法不是最重要的，重要的是这种方法要有足够的强度，适合反复进行，令病人的手臂和双手得到运动。

The researchers designed their study to test whether virtual reality gaming, which is increasingly being employed as a rehab therapy for stroke patients, is any better than more traditional games for honing upper limb motor skills.

虚拟现实游戏在恢复病人上肢运动能力的过程中愈发常见，研究人员设计了一项实验，来评判虚拟现实游戏和传统游戏各自的治疗效果。

The Canadian team recruited 141 patients who had recently suffered a stroke, and now had some impaired² movement in one or both of their hands and arms.

这个加拿大的研究团队招募了141位最近患上中风的病人，其中一些病人的某只手，某只手臂或者双手双臂直到如今仍存在行动障碍。

Approximately half of the patients, at random³, were then allocated⁴ to the Wii rehab, while the rest were asked to do other recreational activities, such as playing cards. All of the patients continued to receive usual stroke rehabilitation care and support on top of the 10, one-hour sessions of gaming or card playing for a fortnight.

研究人员随机选出了近一半的病人通过玩Wii游戏机进行治疗，另一半病人则采取玩牌等娱乐方式进行治疗。所有病人在两周的疗程内每天接受顶级的恢复训练，还要玩一小时游戏或者打一小时牌。

Both groups showed significant improvement in their motor skills at the end of the two weeks and four weeks later. Importantly, both groups fared equally well, say the researchers.

在两周疗程结束后及此后四周内，两组病人的运动能力都有了显著提升。研究人员表示，重要的是两组病人的恢复程度同样良好。

While it's not clear from this study how much of the improvement was from the regular stroke care the participants received, other research suggests adding in more therapy is beneficial.

目前常规的中风治疗手段究竟对病人的病情恢复有多大的贡献尚不清楚，其他研究表明引入更多的疗法对病情恢复有益。

Investigator⁵ Dr Gustavo Saposnik, from St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, said: "We all like technology and have the tendency to think that new technology is better than old-fashioned strategies, but sometimes that's not the case. In this study, we found that simple recreational activities that can be implemented⁶ anywhere may be as effective as technology."

多伦多圣约翰医院的古斯塔沃·萨珀斯尼克博士表示：“我们都喜欢科学技术，总是认为新的技术强于旧的治疗手段，有时实际情况并非如此。我们在研究中发现，随处可玩的简单游戏可能像科学技术一样有效。”

Alexis Wieroniey of the UK's Stroke Association said the findings were particularly encouraging because they suggest that inexpensive, easily accessible activities can help some stroke survivors⁷ in their recovery. "Thousands of stroke survivors are left with mobility⁸ problems, and this can lead to a devastating⁹ loss of independence," she added.

英国中风研究协会的亚历克西斯·威朗尼表示，这是一项非常鼓舞人心的发现，因为这些造价低、容易进行的活动对中风患者的病情恢复大有裨益。她补充说道：“上千名中风患者的运动能力出现了问题，这对他们独立生活的能力造成了巨大的损害。”