美国国家公共电台 NPR Is Aerobic Exercise The Right Prescription For Staving Off Alzheimer's?

Is Aerobic¹ Exercise The Right Prescription² For Staving Off Alzheimer's?

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There's growing evidence that exercise can ward³ off Alzheimer's disease. Just this week, the idea got support from two new studies presented at a big international conference in Los Angeles. NPR's Jon Hamilton traveled on down the California coast to see how researchers are trying to prevent Alzheimer's by prescribing exercise as if it were a drug.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE⁴: It's called the EXERT Study, and participants take their medicine at local YMCAs like this one in Newport Beach. Francine Howard is a personal trainer here. She shows me one option for people whose prescription calls for aerobics⁵ exercise.

FRANCINE HOWARD: The participant would be on the treadmill⁶ for 45 minutes.

HAMILTON: Howard says personal trainers make sure every participant gets a full dose.

HOWARD: We are their cheerleaders. I love them, and I just want them to be successful. And they want to be successful also.

HAMILTON: Also to qualify for the EXERT Study, you need to be between 65 and 89 and not a regular exerciser. You also need to have mild cognitive⁷ impairment, a type of memory loss that often precedes Alzheimer's. Richard is 75 and enrolled⁸ six months ago. We're using only his first name to protect his privacy.

RICHARD: My memory isn't what it's supposed to be. My pockets are always filled with notes because that's what I do. I'm very bad with names.

HAMILTON: Richard says his wife learned about the EXERT Study from a flyer that came in the mail.

RICHARD: Within minutes, she was on the phone (laughter). And next thing I know, I'm being interviewed. They're taking my blood. They're wiring me up for things. And I'm in the program.

HAMILTON: So for the past six months, Richard has been going to the Y four days a week. He takes his training sessions seriously.

RICHARD: The only one I missed, I had some minor⁹ surgery that - the doctor said cool it for a week.

HAMILTON: The EXERT Study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, is designed to show whether aerobic exercise really can protect the brain. Laura Baker¹⁰ of the Wake Forest School of Medicine is the study's principal investigator¹¹.

LAURA BAKER: The evidence and science has been building for the last 20 years to suggest that exercise at the right intensity¹² could protect brain health as we age and also protect against development of Alzheimer's.

HAMILTON: But much of that evidence has come from studies that were small, brief or relied on people's own estimates of how much they exercised. The EXERT Study is different. It takes people at high risk for Alzheimer's and randomly¹³ assigns them to one of two groups for 18 months, half to aerobic exercise like running on a treadmill. The other half do stretching and flexibility¹⁴ exercises for comparison. Baker says this is a lot like the way pharmaceutical¹⁵ companies test new drugs.

BAKER: We are testing if exercise is medicine for people with a mild memory problem.

HAMILTON: Researchers are tracking changes in memory and thinking. They're also monitoring blood flow in the brain, brain atrophy¹⁶ and levels of toxic¹⁷ proteins associated with Alzheimer's. Howard Feldman of the University of California San Diego says all that data will help make the results definitive¹⁸.

HOWARD FELDMAN: We will not only understand whether the intervention¹⁹ helps people on a clinical outcome but actually what the scientific basis is.

HAMILTON: Richard isn't sure if his memory is any better, but he says going to the gym has changed his life.

RICHARD: The doughnut stop across the street, which I ignore every single time I come out - I used to love peanut butter-filled pretzels - haven't had one in six months. And as a result, I've lost eight pounds.

HAMILTON: It's been hard to find enough people like Richard, though. Andrea LaCroix of UC San Diego has been working to recruit more participants.

ANDREA LACROIX: It turns out to be super challenging to find people with memory problems who are willing to come to the Y four times a week and commit to being in the study for 18 months.

HAMILTON: The nationwide EXERT Study has enrolled about 200 people so far, but it needs 100 more.

Jon Hamilton, NPR News, Newport Beach, Calif.

1 aerobic   

adj.需氧的，增氧健身法的，有氧的

参考例句：

• Aerobic exercise helps to build up stamina.有氧健身操有助于增强耐力。
• Aerobic dance is conductive to the health.有氧舞蹈有助于健康。

2 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

3 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 aerobics   

n.健身操，健美操，韵律操

参考例句：

• Doing aerobics is a good way to improve one's health.做有氧健身操是改善健康状况的一个好方法。
• Aren't you going to the aerobics class this morning?今天上午你不是去上有氧运动课吗？

6 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

7 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

8 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

10 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

11 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

12 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

13 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

14 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

15 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

16 atrophy   

n./v.萎缩，虚脱，衰退

参考例句：

• Patients exercised their atrophied limbs in the swimming pool.病人们在泳池里锻炼萎缩的四肢。
• Many hoped he would renew the country's atrophied political system.很多人都期望他能使该国萎靡的政治体系振作起来。

17 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

18 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

19 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。