Friendly doctors are 'bad for their patients' health', researchers have warned as a new study revealed two thirds of young medics struggle to be truthful with patients they like.

最新研究表明，医生态度友善反而对患者治疗不利。三分之二的年轻医生很难对他们喜欢的病人讲实话。

Blurring the lines between social and professional relationships can impact on the level of care offered and prevent patients from being honest about important side effects.

医生与病人之间的社交和专业界线模糊不清会影响病情治疗，且病人也不能清楚地了解治疗产生的副作用。

Doctors should refrain from adding patients as friends on Facebook, they should not hug or allow patients to call them by their first names, regulators have warned.

监管者告诫医生，不要在脸书（Fackbook）上加病人为好友，同时也不要拥抱病人或是允许病人直呼他们的名字。

They said those who breach the boundaries could face disciplinary action.

监管人员提醒说“越界”的医生将会面临处罚。

It comes as a survey of 338 oncologists under the age of 40, published in The Lancet Oncology, found 59 per cent said they found it difficult to tell the truth to those patients they liked.

这项发表于医学期刊《柳叶刀肿瘤学》（The Lancet Oncology）上的研究调查了338名40岁以下的肿瘤医生。调查显示，有59%的医生表示很难对他们喜欢的病人讲实话。

Sixty per cent of respondents said if doctors felt too close to their patients, it could prevent them from making objective decisions about a person's care.

60%的受访者认为，医生与病人之间太过亲密将会影响医生对病人的治疗做出客观的决定。

Lesley Fallowfield, of Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said: 'Oncology is a specialty that can be enormously rewarding but is fraught with many challenges.

来自布莱顿苏塞克斯医学院（Brighton and Sussex Medical School）的莱斯利·法洛菲尔德（Lesley Fallowfield）说：“虽然肿瘤学能带来丰厚回报，但却充满了许多挑战。

'Young oncologists have to master dealing with anxious patients who are facing a life-threatening disease; conveying the true prognosis; discussing the complexity of modern treatments; and explaining the unavailability of some drugs, the side-effects of treatment, and likely therapeutic aims.'

年轻的肿瘤医生必须要掌握以下几点：一是学会缓解那些患有危及性命疾病的病人焦虑的情绪；二是告知病人真实的预后症状；三是与同僚积极探讨现代医学治疗的复杂性；四是对人们阐明药物不可使用的情况、治疗产生的副作用以及治疗的目的。”

But she said for those doctors who have entered the profession in the age of the 'cyber world', are more likely to fall victim to blurring the professional boundaries with patients.

但她认为，对那些在“网络时代”进入专业领域的医生们来说，医生在与病人相处时很容易越界。

She said: 'The difficulty, if you hug and kiss patients, if you allow them to call you by your first name, is that quickly the relationship can become confused as a social one rather than a professional one.

她说：“如果医生拥抱亲吻病人，或是允许病人直呼他们的名字，那么当医患关系变成朋友关系时，就很容易模糊医生与病人之间的那条界线。

'Doctors become confused, "I really like this person, how can I bear to tell them that they're going to die?"

医生们会很困惑，因为他们不知道要如何告诉与自己相交甚好的病人，他们即将要面临死亡的事实。

'They find it more difficult to be objective.'

到那个时候，他们会很难做出客观的抉择。”

Professor Fallowfield said while doctors can find it harder to be truthful, and break bad news to patients, blurring the professional lines can impact on the patient's behaviour too.

法洛菲尔德教授表示，这样一来，不仅医生很难对病人讲实话、给病人带来不好的消息，对于病人来说，医患关系不明确也会影响他们的行为。

She said those being treated can 'feel intimidated about complaining', or fail to raise issues regarding unpleasant side effects of treatment, which could prove vitally important.

她说，病人会感到“不敢抱怨”，也无法提到有关治疗的不良副作用。这些对病人来说，都是极其重要的。

The study found half of doctors questioned had given patients their personal mobile numbers, a fifth had accepted social invitations from patients and 14 per cent had accepted them as friends on Facebook.

调查表明，半数医生曾将私人号码留给病人。五分之一的医生曾收到病人的社交邀请，14%的医生则在脸书上加病人为好友。

A spokesman for the General Medical Council, which regulates doctors, said: 'The rise in the use of social media also brings new challenges and doctors must consider the risks involved and the impact it could have on the relationship with their patients.

医生监管机构医学总会（General Medical Council）的一位发言人说：“社交媒体的兴起带来了许多新的挑战。因此，医生必须要考虑到其中的隐患，以及医患关系对病人的影响。

（翻译：hyylf  编辑：Julie）