TED演讲:我们如何研究生活在肠道中的微生物(5)

 　　Now this brings us to the human part of the story. 我们自然就要谈到人的问题。

　　Obviously, the microbiomes in the USA aren't causing premature¹ death as frequently as in the zoo, 显然，美国人体内微生物群的失衡，并没有造成像动物园那么多夭折，

　　but we have major risk of obesity², diabetes³, a number of these other diseases. 但我们有肥胖、糖尿病和其他类似疾病的高发病率。

　　And this applies not just to people who have been living in the USA for many generations, 不仅是在美国生活了好几代的人存在这样的问题，

　　but also to immigrants and refugees, who, for most immigrant and refugee groups, arrive in the USA metabolically⁴ healthy, 而且新移民和难民也一样，多数移民和难民群体抵达美国时，他们在新陈代谢方面很健康，

　　and then within a few years, they become just as high-risk for obesity and diabetes as other Americans. 然后，在几年之内，他们患上肥胖和糖尿病的风险与美国人一样高。

　　And we discussed this issue with two groups that have been coming to the USA from Southeast Asia: 我们与两个从东南亚迁来美国的团体讨论过这个问题：

　　the Hmong, who started coming in the mid-1970s as refugees from the Vietnam War and the US secret war in Laos; 一个是洪族人，因越南战争和老挝美国秘密战争，从20世纪70年代中叶开始，他们以难民身份来到美国；

　　and the Karen, who have been coming more recently as refugees from Myanmar. 另一个是凯伦人，最近才从缅甸来的难民。

　　So we've been working for a few years with these local communities and clinicians 我们已经与这些当地社区和临床医生一起工作了几年，

　　to study what happens to the Hmong and Karen microbiomes when people move from refugee camps and villages in Thailand to the USA. 研究洪族人和凯伦人从泰国难民营和村庄来到美国后，他们体内的微生物群会发生怎样的变化。

　　And what we found is that when people come to the USA from these groups, 我们发现，当这些人来到美国后，

　　they lose a large fraction of their microbiome, somewhere around 20 percent, 他们体内的微生物群失去了很大一部分，约20%；

　　and those who come to the USA and become obese⁵ lose about a third of their microbes. 而那些来美国后患肥胖症的人，则失去了（原来）微生物群的三分之一。

1 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

2 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 metabolically   

代谢的（metabolic的副词形式）

参考例句：

• Intact skin is a highly complex, metabolically active organ. 完整的皮肤是一个高度复杂、代谢灵敏的器官。 来自辞典例句

5 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。