VOA 慢速 | 运动可以降低老年痴呆症风险

小白老师说：小白老师今天有点词穷，不知说点什么。

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

Increasing evidence suggests that being active can reduce a person’s risk of dementia. Dementia is the name for the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other brain disorders.

越来越多的证据表明，积极运动可以降低老年痴呆症的风险。老年痴呆症是阿尔茨海默氏症、中风和其它脑部疾病影响的总称。

People may be considered to have dementia if they lose abilities in two or more areas such as memory and language skills. Other signs of dementia include a loss of ability to think clearly or control emotions.

如果一个人失去两项或两项以上类似记忆和语言技能的能力，就会被认为患上老年痴呆症。老年痴呆症的其它迹象还包括思维混乱或情绪失控。

The World Health Organization says about thirty-five million people worldwide are living with dementia.

世界卫生组织称，全球约有 3, 500万 人患老年痴呆症。

Most studies of exercise and dementia depend on self-reporting—asking people to report their levels of physical activity. Laura Middleton is a researcher at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Waterloo in Canada. She says there are problems with self-reporting.

大多数关于运动和老年痴呆症的研究依赖于患者的自我报告，即要求人们报告他们的身体运动水平。劳拉·米德尔顿（Laura Middleton）是加拿大Sunnybrook 研究所和沃特卢大学的一名研究员。她表示，自我报告存在一些问题。

“It does a very good job of capturing jogging, or biking or tennis but does a relatively poor job of capturing low-intensity activity like walking or daily chores, which may also be important to the risk of cognitive impairment.”

米德尔顿：“自我报告在获取慢跑、骑车、打网球一类运动信息方面表现非常好。但在获取步行、日常杂务一类低强度运动信息方面表现相对较差，而这些低强度运动对认知障碍风险也极其重要。

So, Professor Middleton led a team in a new study to measure activity levels scientifically. The study lasted five years. Almost two hundred people took part. Their average age was seventy-five.

因此，米德尔顿教授在一项新研究中领导一个团队科学地检测身体运动水平。这项研究历时 5 年，近 200 人成为研究对象，平均年龄达到 75 岁。

The people drank small amounts of what scientists call doubly labeled water. It contains forms of hydrogen and oxygen that can mark, or label, these elements within body water. This way scientists can measure energy use through urine tests.

这些人喝下少量被科学家称为双标记水的液体。它包含氢氧同位素，能够在体液中标记出自身元素，或所谓在体液中示踪出这些元素。这样科学家就能通过尿液检测，测量出体能的消耗。

**小白老师注：**由重氢重氧构成的水叫双重水（双标记水）：D218O 是水的同位素中最重的分子。稳定同位素无毒无害，使用安全，作为示踪原子，被广泛应用于化学、医药学、生物工程、环境学、地质学等各个学科。

Laura Middleton says the research showed that even low-intensity activity reduced the risk of thinking problems and memory loss.

米德尔顿称，研究表明即使低强度身体运动也能降低思维障碍和记忆丧失的风险。

LAURA MIDDLETON: “Those with higher activity energy expenditure had ninety percent reduced risk of incident cognitive impairment over the follow-up period compared to those with very low activity energy expenditure.”

米德尔顿：“在观察期间，高运动能量消耗患者比低运动能量消耗患者的认知障碍事故风险低了 90%。”

The study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

这项研究发表在内科学文献（Archives of Internal Medicine）上。

In a second study, French researchers reported on exercise and dementia in women with heart risks like obesity or diabetes.

在另一项研究中，法国研究人员就运动和存在肥胖症或糖尿病一类心脏病风险的女性的关系发表了报告。

Marie-Noel Vercambre of the Foundation for Public Health in Paris led the study. The findings suggest that even a half-hour walk at a quick speed every day could lower the risk of cognitive impairment.

巴黎公共健康基金会的玛丽-诺埃尔·沃卡比（Marie-Noel Vercambre）领导了这项研究。研究结果表明，即使是每天正常速度步行半个小时也能降低认知障碍的风险。

Dr. Eric Larson of the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, Washington, wrote a commentary about the studies. He says the findings add to the evidence about the mental value of physical activity.

美国西雅图群体健康研究所的埃里克·拉尔森博士 (Dr. Eric Larson) 就此发表了评论。他称，这项研究结果为身体运动存在精神方面的价值增加了证据。

“It’s not obvious to people that exercise would make your brain healthier. And as each study does more detailed analyses of special groups or a different way of making the measurements, it just makes the scientific basis for this relationship a lot more convincing.”

拉尔森：“运动能使大脑更为健康这点对人们来说并不直观。而各项研究就特定人群进行更为具体的分析，或使用不同方式进行检测。这将使运动与大脑健康两者关系的科学基础更使人信服。”