Fats and Alzheimer's Disease

By Nancy Steinbach
Broadcast: July 30, 2003
This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Health Report.
A medical study says foods rich in a kind of fat may help prevent Alzheimer's disease¹. Alzheimer's is a slowly increasing brain disorder², usually found in older people. It affects about twelve-million people around the world. There is no cure.
The researchers found that the people who ate fish at least once a week had a sixty percent lower chance of developing Alzheimer's than those who did not. 1)Oily fish like 2)salmon³ have 3)omega three fatty acids⁴. This fat has been shown to reduce the chance of heart disease. Nuts and some kind of oils also contain this kind of fat. One of the researchers said these fatty acids are also found in brain cells and may protect them from Alzheimer's.
Researchers at the Rush-Presbyterian-Saint Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, carried out the new study of fats and Alzheimer's. They published the results in the Archives of 4)Neurology.
The study involved more than eight-hundred people between the ages of sixty-five and ninety-four. None showed any signs of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers asked them about the foods they ate and followed them for about four years. By the end of the study, one-hundred-thirty-one, or sixteen percent, had developed Alzheimer's disease.
Victims of the disease lose the ability to take care of themselves. At first, they forget simple things, like where they put something, or a person's name. They forget more and more as time passes. They do not recognize the faces of family members. Then they forget who they are. Finally, they remember nothing. Victims of Alzheimer's die from the disease. But it is as if their brains die before their bodies.
In February the researchers published other results from the same study. These showed that the people who ate a lot of animal fat had two times the chance of developing Alzheimer's than those who ate small amounts.
The researchers said all these findings⁵ confirm other studies that link Alzheimer's disease and foods that increase the level of 5)cholesterol⁶ in the blood. But they also said more research must be done to prove that this link exists. Until then, they said, people still have many good reasons to eat less animal fat and more fruits, vegetables and fish.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Bill White.

注释：
1) oily [5Cili] adj.油的
2) salmon [5sAmEn] n.（鱼）鲑鱼, 大麻哈鱼
3) omega [5Eumi^E] n.最后，结局
4) neurology [njuE5rClEdVi] n.神经学，神经病学
5) cholesterol [kE5lestErEul] n.胆固醇

1 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

4 acids   

n.酸( acid的名词复数 )；酸味物质

参考例句：

• Some acids are strong enough to burn the wood. 有些酸的酸性强得可以烧坏木头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are many amino acids that the body cannot synthesise itself. 有许多种氨基酸人体自身不能合成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

6 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。