娶個聰明老婆防癡呆

If a man wants to live a long life he should marry an intelligent woman, according to scientists.
科學家稱，男人要想長壽，就得娶個聰明的老婆。

Dementia experts said that having an intelligent partner can act as ‘buffer’ to the disease.
癡呆症專家說，聰明的伴侶就如“緩衝器”，可以延緩疾病發生。

By studying the health of identical twins, they concluded that a person’s environment can seriously affect their chance of developing dementia.
通過對同卵雙胞胎健康狀況的研究，他們得出結論認爲，一個人所處的環境可以極大地影響患老年癡呆的機率。

People who had physical signs of the disease showing up on their brain scans but developed no symptoms were generally ‘highly intelligent’ and ‘in high-powered jobs’ with ‘a lot of money in the bank,’ the scientists claimed.
科學家稱，有的人的腦部掃描顯示他們在生理上已經有癡呆症的跡象了，卻沒有表現出任何症狀，這種人通常都“非常聰明”、“身居要職”、有“很多銀行存款”。

During a talk called Dementia: How Can We Protect Ourselves?, professor Lawrence Whalley, emeritus professor of mental health in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, said: ‘The thing a boy is never told he needs to do if he wants to live a longer life – but what he should do – is marry an intelligent woman. There is no better buffer than intelligence.’
在一個叫做“癡呆症：我們該怎樣保護自己？”的談話節目中，英國阿伯丁大學醫學與生命科學學院精神健康方面的榮譽教授勞倫斯•沃利說：“想要長壽的話，男孩需要知道也該做的一件事，就是娶個聰明的老婆。只可惜沒人告訴過他。沒有什麼延緩衰老的東西比高智商更有效。”

A series of studies have found that intellectual stimulation that keeps the brain active can help to stave off the symptoms of dementia.
一系列研究結果顯示，智力的激發不僅可以保持大腦活力，還有助於延緩癡呆症發作。

Previous research has focused on the benefits of activities like doing crosswords, reading and visiting museums, but Professor Whalley’s comments suggest that having a partner who provides interesting and challenging conversation could also help prevent Alzheimer’s.
之前的研究主要集中在一些活動的益處上，比如填字遊戲、閱讀、逛博物館，但沃利教授的話啓示我們，擁有一個可以進行有趣且富有挑戰性對話的伴侶，也有利於預防老年癡呆。

However the death of a family member when you are only a child can increase your chance of developing the disease 80 years on, the audience at the Oxford Literary Festival heard.
不過，聽衆們在牛津文化節上還聽說，在孩提時代遭遇親人死亡也會增加80歲時患癡呆症的機率。

Professor Whalley explained: ‘Studies have shown that the death of a mother before the age of five is a very important risk factor for dementia in later life.
沃利教授解釋稱：“研究表明，五歲之前母親去世，老年患癡呆的風險更大。”

‘But positive parenting as a child, a longer time in education and a good childhood environment all have a huge buffering effect against dementia 70 or 80 years later.
“但童年時期得到良好的撫育，上學時間較長，和一個良好的成長環境，都可以起到巨大的緩衝作用，降低七八十年以後患癡呆症的機率。

‘Environmental factors in your childhood, such as your father’s job status, have an effect, as does your mother’s diet during pregnancy. Your childhood IQ, your job income, your educational attainments all have an effect in later life.’
“童年的環境因素，比如你父親的職業地位，以及你母親在懷孕時期的飲食，都會影響你今後的健康狀況。你童年時的智商、工作後的收入和接受教育的水平都對日後的生活有影響。”

He added: ‘If you look at the kind of people who should have dementia but don’t show symptoms, they are highly intelligent people in high-powered jobs. They also have a lot of money in the bank.’
他還補充道：“如果你觀察一下那些本應有癡呆症但沒有表現出症狀的人，就會發現他們都是身居要職的聰明人。他們在銀行也有很多存款。”

He went on to point out that it becomes difficult to change your ‘trajectory’ past the age of 40, but that learning new skills, such as a language, can ‘give you a five-year buffer against dementia’. Changing your job between the age of 25 and 35 is also an effective way to ‘change your trajectory’, he claimed.
他繼續指出，40歲以後就很難改變你的“軌道”了，但學習語言等新技能可以“給你五年的癡呆症緩衝期”。他還說，在25歲到35歲之間換工作也是“改變軌道”的一個有效方法。

Fellow speaker Professor Margaret Rayman, of the University of Surrey, highlighted the importance of diet and recommended over-50s take vitamin B12 supplements.
另一位主講人、薩里大學的教授瑪格麗特•雷曼，強調了飲食的重要性，建議50歲以上的人服用維生素B12補充劑。

Professor Rayman said people can have only 10g of chocolate and 100ml of red or white wine each day before it begins to have an ‘adverse effect’ on cognitive function.
雷曼教授還說，人們每天應該只吃10克巧克力、喝100毫升紅葡萄酒或白葡萄酒，這樣才能防止對認知功能產生“不利影響”。

Meanwhile, one serving of blueberries or two servings of strawberries a week will have a ‘positive effect’ on fighting cognitive decline, while eating vegetables that have been frozen while fresh can be better for your brain than those that have been languishing in the fridge.
與此同時，每週吃一次藍莓或兩次草莓，會對避免認知功能下降產生“積極作用”，而且對大腦健康來說，那些在新鮮時就被冷凍起來的蔬菜比那些在冰箱裏枯萎的要好一些。

There are around 800,000 people in the UK with dementia. The number has been increasing because people are living longer. It is estimated that by 2021, the number of people with dementia in the UK will have increased to around a million.
英國目前大約有80萬癡呆症患者。這一數字還在增長，因爲人們的壽命越來越長。據估計，到2021年，英國的癡呆症患者將達到一百萬左右。

Vocabulary

identical twins: 同卵雙胞胎

stave off: 避開，延緩