滑雪愛好者患抑鬱和癡呆的風險更低

Skiers Have a Lower Risk of Depression and Dementia

滑雪愛好者患抑鬱和癡呆的風險更低

If you believe that activities like cross-country skiing are good for your mentAl health, new research from Sweden shows you're right. After analyzing health records of cross-country skiers, scientists found that they had a lower risk of depression and dementia.

瑞典的一項新研究表明，越野滑雪有利於心理健康。科學家在分析完越野滑雪者的健康記錄後發現：他們患抑鬱和癡呆的風險更低。

"As brain researchers, we have had the unique opportunity to analyze an exceptionally large group of very physically active people over two decades," said research team leader and Lund University professor Tomas Deierborg in a university blog post, "and we have unraveled some interesting results."

“作爲大腦研究者，我們獲得了這個獨特的機會——在過去20年中對一羣身體活躍的受試者進行了分析，”研究團隊的負責人、隆德大學的托馬斯·迪爾伯格（Tomas Deierborg）教授在學校的官方博客中說道，“而且，我們還有了一些有趣的發現。”

Researchers at Lund University and Uppsala University conducted a study on 200,000 people who participated in Vasaloppet—a cross-country skiing race in Sweden—between 1989 and 2010. Compared with a similarly sized control group of the general population, they found that the number of skiers diagnosed with dementia and depression was 50 percent lower than the control group. The skiers also had a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological disorder.

隆德大學和烏普薩拉大學的研究員對1989年至2010年間參加瑞典越野滑雪比賽Vasaloppet的20萬人進行了研究。與由普通人口構成的規模類似的對照組相比，他們發現：確診爲癡呆和抑鬱症的滑雪患者的人數比對照組低50%。滑雪者患帕金森疾病（一種退行性神經系統疾病）的風險也相對更低。

Among two decades of Vasaloppet finishers, the researchers found that 233 people had developed dementia, compared to 319 cases of the disease among non-racers. In addition, 1,030 skiers were later diagnosed with depression, compared to 2,045 in the control group. The numbers for Parkinson's were less definitive, but the Vasaloppet skiers still fared better than average: Only 119 of them were diagnosed with the disease, versus 164 people in the general population. Any way you look at it, the skiers were clearly the ones with the reduced risk of disease.

在這20年間完成Vasaloppet比賽的滑雪者中，研究員發現233人患有癡呆症，而未比賽的對照組中，319人患有這一疾病。此外，1030名滑雪者在後來的時間內被診斷出抑鬱症，而對照組的人數爲2045名。患帕金森疾病的人數尚未確定，但Vasaloppet滑雪者的患病人數仍低於平均水平，只有119人，而對照組爲164人。從任何一個角度而言，滑雪者患這些疾病的風險都顯然更低。

Interestingly, researchers found that the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, another major neurological disorder, was not reduced among the skiers. That actually contradicts previous studies in the field that suggest physical activity can lower the risk of Alzheimer's.

有趣的是，研究員發現，滑雪者患阿爾茲海默症（另一種主要神經系統疾病）的風險並未降低，這實際上與該領域先前的研究相矛盾。此前，研究表明體育鍛煉可以降低患阿爾茲海默症的風險。

"The mechanisms behind this still need to be investigated," said doctoral student and study author Tomas Olsson, "but it seems that those who are physically active have a 'motor reserve' that postpones the onset of the disease."

“其背後的機理仍需進一步研究，”博士生兼研究作者托馬斯·奧爾森（Tomas Olsson）說道。“但那些身體活躍的人似乎具有‘運動儲備’，可以延緩疾病的發作。”