GRE双语阅读：五件事加快衰老速度

　　新的一场GRE考试马上就要开始了，小伙伴们准备的怎么样了呢?聚培训GRE栏目为大家带来“GRE双语阅读：五件事加快衰老速度”，希望对大家有所帮助!

　　Your Lunchtime cola

　　午餐时的可乐

　　What it ages: Your bones

　　老化部位：骨骼

　　The science: Older women who drank a cola every day had significantly lower bone-mineral density than those who consumed less than one cola per month, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It’s not exactly clear why cola had this effect, but the study researchers believe that it could be the combination of caffeine and phosphoric acid (which most other carbonated drinks don’t have) that causes the problem.

　　科学研究：《美国临床营养期刊》研究发现，年纪较大的女性如果每天喝一杯可乐，骨密度会远低于那些每月只喝不到一杯可乐的同龄女性。尚不明确可乐为何会产生这种影响，不过许多研究者认为可能是咖啡因与磷酸(其他大多数碳酸饮料不含该成分)结合，造成这个问题。

　　What you can do: Cut back. Keep in mind that diet cola had similar effects and, to a lesser extent, so did decaf versions. If you need bubbles, try seltzer instead.

　　解决办法：少饮可乐。记住，健怡可乐也会影响骨密度，不过程度比较轻，脱咖啡因可乐亦如此。如果你想喝碳酸饮料，选择苏打水泡腾片吧。

　　Your Daily Commute

　　日常交通

　　What it ages: Your skin

　　老化部位：皮肤

　　The science: The air you’re exposed to on the highway is no friend to your complexion. Traffic-related pollution can lead to age spots, according to a review in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, while another review in Frontiers in Environmental Science found that pollution contributes to overall skin aging, plus other problems like acne, eczema and psoriasis.

　　科学研究：路上的空气可不是皮肤的好朋友。《皮肤病学研究杂志》表明，交通污染会引发老年斑。《环境科学前沿》还发现，污染会导致皮肤整体老化并产生一系列问题，如粉刺、痤疮和牛皮鲜。

　　What you can do: Until someone comes up with a way to make a long commute shorter, these tips should help. First, if you drive an older car, roll your windows down instead of up when you’re sitting in traffic. (With an older air-filter system, you’ll just breath in your car’s own exhaust if you keep them up). Second, apply a topical antioxidant product to your face, neck in the morning to help protect your skin from environmental pollution.

　　解决办法：如果行程不可缩短，那这些方法也许有用。首先，如果你开的是旧车，开车时要把车窗摇下来。因为旧车的空气过滤设备老化，摇起车窗只会吸入车的尾气。其次，在脸和脖子上涂一些抗氧化性产品，减少环境污染带来的伤害。

　　A Hypercritical Boss

　　吹毛求疵的老板

　　What it ages: Your brain

　　老化部位：大脑

　　The science: Anxiety and stress can shrink your hippocampus, and in people already experiencing the cognitive decline that can lead to Alzheimer’s, they could potentially speed up the progression of the disease.

　　科学研究：压力和焦虑会使大脑中的海马体缩小。对于那些认知能力已经开始下降的、可能会得老年痴呆症的人来说，病情可能会加速发展。

　　Your hippocampus controls memory formation and also plays a role in regulating your emotions. It naturally gets smaller as we age, but a review in Current Opinion in Psychiatry found that stress can cause structural damage and accelerate the shrinking process.

　　海马体是大脑中负责记忆和感情的部分。随着年龄增加，它会不断缩小。不过，《精神医学最新观点》发现，压力会造成海马体结构性损伤，加速缩小进程。

　　“Cortisol is released when you’re stressed and cortisol is toxic to the hippocampus,” explains lead study author Linda Mah, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and clinical scientist at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. Before you get anxious about how stress and anxiety are affecting your brain, know this: The researchers concluded that “pathological anxiety and chronic stress” are the real dangers, meaning the kind that’s unrelenting and never seems to go away. If you think that’s what you’re experiencing, talk to your doctor about ways to manage it.

　　“紧张时会释放出皮质醇，对海马体百害无利，”研究作者Linda Mah表示，同时他还是东京大学的精神学助教、Baycrest老年护理中心的临床科学家。在你焦急的想知道焦虑和紧张是如何影响大脑之前，先弄清楚这些：研究人员认为“病态焦虑和慢性压力”是真正的元凶，这些可是顽固性因子。如果你觉得自己有这些症状，和医生谈谈解决办法。

　　Dr. Mah led another study in 2014 focusing on people with mild cognitive impairment, or MCI. (MCI is considered a precursor to Alzheimer’s. Not everyone with MCI develops Alzheimer’s, but almost all cases of Alzheimer’s start as MCI.) Subjects who experienced anxiety at any time were more likely to progress to Alzheimer’s during the three-year study. The more severe the anxiety, the higher the risk.

　　Mah医生在2014年做了另一项研究，关注那些患有轻度认知障碍(MCI)的人。MCI是老年痴呆症的早期疾病，不是每一个有MCI的人都会得老年痴呆症，但是大多老年痴呆症的病人都是从患有MCI开始的。在这三年的研究中，容易焦虑的人更容易得老年痴呆症。焦虑程度越高，患病风险也越高。

　　What you can do: You’ve heard this before, but managing your stress levels is incredibly important. Exercise may be particularly helpful in dealing with work worries, according to a new study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, which reported that being physically fit helped protect against the health effects of work-related stress.

　　解决方法：你之前可能听说过，学会控制压力至关重要。《运动医学与科学》杂志最新研究表明，锻炼也许能帮助减轻工作压力。同时，健康的身体也会帮助我们抵抗工作压力带来的不利影响。

　　Sleepless Nights

　　夜间失眠

　　What they age: Your cells

　　老化部位：细胞

　　The science: A startling discovery comes via a study in Biological Psychiatry, which reported that women with five key symptoms of insomnia were almost two years older biologically than women of the same age without sleep issues. (The insomnia symptoms were difficulty falling asleep, restlessness, waking up during the night, trouble dozing off again and waking up too early.) This study didn’t show an obvious cause-and-effect relationship, but study author Steve Horvath, PhD, notes that it’s still good not to let sleep issues linger.

　　科学研究：生物精神病学研究有一项惊人的发现，有五大失眠症状的女性在生理上要比同龄女性老两岁。五大失眠症包括入睡困难、情绪不安、夜间易醒、午休困难、过早起床。该研究并未显示明显的因果关系，但是研究作者Steve Horvath博士表示还是要解决这些失眠问题。

　　What you can do: Treat the insomnia. If you’re having trouble sleeping, or notice any of the five symptoms above, ask your doctor for help.

　　解决方法：治疗失眠。如果你入睡困难，有上述症状，向医生寻求帮助。

　　An Expanding Waistline

　　腰围增加

　　What it ages: Your brain

　　老化部位：大脑

　　The science: Our brains naturally lose white matter with age, but researchers from the University of Cambridge found that the brains of overweight and obese people had the same amount of white matter as healthy people 10 years older than them. Being physically unfit in middle age was also linked to smaller brain size, according to research in Neurology.

　　科学研究：大脑中的白质会随年龄增加而不断损耗。剑桥大学的研究人员发现，体重超重的人大脑中的白质与与比自己大10岁的人含量相当。神经病学研究表明，中年人身体不健康也会导致脑容量减小。

　　What you can do: Get regular exercise (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, per week) and manage your weight to help keep your brain at a healthy size for your age.

　　解决方法：锻炼。美国卫生与人类服务部建议，每周至少要有150分钟的有氧运动，或是75分钟的剧烈运动。并且要控制体重，以此保证正常的大脑容量。