Poor sleep is associated with increased inflammation, which may contribute to heart disease and a variety of other ailments. A new study has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy and tai chi, the Chinese exercise technique, may reduce both insomnia and inflammation.

睡眠不足与炎症增加相关，而后者可能会导致心脏病和其他多种疾病。一项新研究表明，认知行为疗法和中国的锻炼技法太极拳或可同时减少失眠和炎症。

Researchers studied 123 people with insomnia who were over age 55. They were randomized to one of three groups. The first received two hours a week of cognitive behavioral therapy over four months, the second the same amount of tai chi practice, and the third, a control group, a four-month educational program about sleep hygiene, aging and insomnia. The study was published in Biological Psychiatry.

研究人员研究了123名年龄超过55岁的失眠症患者，并将他们随机分入3组。第一组接受了每周两小时，持续四个月的认知行为疗法，第二组进行同样数量的太极拳练习，第三组是对照组，接受为期四个月的关于睡眠卫生、衰老和失眠的教育课程。该研究发表在《生物精神病学》杂志(Biological Psychiatry)上。

At one year after the treatment, compared with the control group, those on cognitive behavioral therapy and tai chi had reduced blood levels of C-reactive protein and reduced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, both indicators of inflammation.

在治疗一年后，与对照组相比，接受认知行为疗法者和练习太极拳者的血液C反应蛋白浓度均有所降低，促炎细胞因子的产生减少，而这两者均是炎症的指标。

Using blood samples, the researchers also found that both the treatment groups had lower expression of genes related to inflammation and increased expression of genes related to antibody response compared with the control group.

使用血液样本，研究人员还发现，比之对照组，两个治疗组的炎症相关基因表达均较低，抗体反应相关基因表达均较高。

“Tai chi and cognitive therapy are used to treat insomnia because, unlike medication, they produce no unwanted side effects,” said the lead author, Dr. Michael R. Irwin, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles.

研究的主要作者，加州大学洛杉矶分校(University of California, Los Angeles)的精神病学教授迈克尔·R·欧文(Michael R. Irwin)博士说：“使用太极拳和认知疗法来治疗失眠，是因为它们不像药物那样会产生有害的副作用。”

“With the improvement in insomnia,” he added, “there’s a reversal of inflammation at the systemic level and the genetic level. Inflammation contributes to cardiovascular disease, depression and cancer.”

“随着失眠的改善，炎症在全身和基因层次上都出现了逆转。”他补充道，“而炎症是心血管疾病、抑郁症和癌症的原因之一。”