中年發福非好事 或引發大腦萎縮
研究人員們警告，無節制增長的腰圍與其他中年危機的表徵不僅對於你的心臟健康大有壞處，同時還可能引發大腦的萎縮。
SMoking, diabetes and high blood pressure also take their toll on the grey matter, having an effect on brainpower just ten years later.
吸菸、肥胖與高血壓同樣會埋下“禍根”，帶來不良的後果，對於智力的影響將在短短十年之後顯現出來。
Researchers said doctors could use the information to pick out patients at a higher risk of dementia and encourage them to improve their lifestyles while there was still time.
研究者們表示，醫生們應該利用這樣的信息來區隔出有可能會患上老年癡呆的高危人羣，並鼓勵他們，在還有時間來得及挽回的情況下，應該儘量改善他們的生活方式。
More than 1,300 men and women in their 50s and 60s had their weight and height measured at the start of the U.S. study and had blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes tests.
在這項研究的一開始，有超過1300名年齡介於50歲和60歲之間的男性女性接受升高以及體重的測量，同時他們還進行了血壓、膽固醇水平以及糖尿病方面的測試。
Scans to measure brain volume were carried out over the next ten years and mental tests were also run on participants.
在接下來的十年中，研究者們會定期掃描受測者的大腦體積，同時也會要求他們參加心理測試。
The brain shrinks with age, even in the healthiest of people. But in those with diabetes, the hippocampus, the brain’s ‘memory hub’, shrank more quickly than in those without the condition.
人體的大腦會隨着年齡的增長而萎縮，哪怕是身體最健康的人也不例外。但是那些患有糖尿病的人羣的大腦中的海馬體，也就是掌控記憶力的中樞，萎縮的速度要遠高於那些沒有這種病症的人。
The hippocampus also shrivelled faster in smokers. And those with high blood pressure were more prone to small lesions or areas of brain damage, known as ‘white matter hyper-intensities’.
海馬體也會因吸菸而更快的“癟”掉。然而患有高血壓病症的人羣的大腦更容易出現腦損傷，也就是通常所說的“腦白質疏鬆症”。
High blood pressure was also linked to a more rapid worsening of scores on mental tests, effectively ageing the brain by up to eight years.
高血壓對於智力的傷害從心理測試的分數中便能看出，這種病症更夠讓我們的“大腦年齡”增長八歲。
Those who were obese in their 50s tended to fare poorly on the mental tests in the study at the University of California at Davis, the journal Neurology reports.
這項由加州大學所進行的測試顯示，患有肥胖症的五十多歲的人羣所獲得的心理測試分數很低。
Study author Charles DeCarli said: ‘Identifying these risk factors early could be useful in screening people for dementia and encouraging people to make changes to their lifestyle before it’s too late.’
研究報告的作者Charles DeCarli說：“儘早的發現這些危險的型號能夠向人們敲響老年癡呆症的警鐘，並且敦促人們改變不健康的生活方式。”
A previous study of American pensioners found that obesity ages the brain by up to 16 years. It is thought that high levels of fat raise the odds of the arteries clogging up, cutting the flow of blood and oxygen.
之前的一份研究指出，肥胖最高能讓大腦“老”上16歲。高水平的脂肪含量會使得動脈更易堵塞，並降低了血液與氧氣的流動。
People who are overweight at 60 are more than twice as likely to get dementia by 75.
60歲左右體重超標的人羣到了75歲時有兩倍的風險可能患上老年癡呆。
