Optimists Blessed with Better Health

Optimists¹ Blessed with Better Health

 

by Julia Sommerfeld /

©2005 The Seattle Times,

Knight² Ridder Newspapers.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services International.

 

Do you usually look on the bright side? Find the sliver³ lining⁴? Or do you take a dim view, focus on the dark clouds and brace⁵ for the worst?

 

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There are optimists — and then there are the people who want to strangle them.

 

Optimists are people who tend to expect the best; pessimists⁷, meanwhile, assume the worst is yet to come. Some combination of childhood experience and genetics is thought to construct this frame through which we see most events.

 

Which camp do you fall into? The answer may have all kinds of consequences for your health. Dozens of studies imply a bleak⁸ outlook somehow invites bleak outcomes — some as serious as a sluggish⁹ immune system, heart disease, even early death. New findings make matters worse by adding a pair of dreaded¹⁰ neurological diseases to the things a pessimist⁶ has to worry about.

 

First, the bad news

 

Recent scientific research has found that pessimists are more likely to develop dementia than their blithe¹¹ counterparts. A sister study found they also have a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease.

 

“Psychologists love to blame pessimism¹² for health problems, but I never really believed it until now,” says Dr. Walter Rocca, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, and a researcher on both studies.

 

Rocca and his colleagues followed thousands of Minnesotans who took a personality test in the 1960s. Those who scored highest on pessimism were about 30 percent more likely to show dementia up to four decades later. Another batch¹³ of Minnesotans revealed an even stronger link between pessimism and Parkinson’s — a 50 percent higher chance of developing the degenerative disorder¹⁴.

 

These statistics don’t show causality, Rocca stressed, just an association. The studies weren’t designed to answer the “why” question, but they still may provide a clue. The researchers also looked back at the Minnesotans’ levels of anxiety on those personality tests and found a similar link between anxiety scores and the brain diseases.

Vocabulary Focus

silver lining (idiom) said to emphasize that every difficult or unpleasant situation has some advantage

camp (n) [kAmp] a group of people who share an opinion or similar characteristics

batch (n) [bAtF] a group of things or people dealt with at the same time or considered similar in type

causality (n) [kC:5zAliti] the relationship between cause and effect

 

Specialized¹⁵ Terms

neurological (adj.) 神经学的 relating to nerves and the brain

dementia (n) 痴呆 a medical condition that causes gradual worsening of the memory and other mental abilities and leads to confused behavior, especially in old people

sister study (n) 姊妹研究，指同一个主题的类似研究 a serious examination of a subject that is closely similar to or associated with another

Parkinson’s disease (n) 帕金森症 a progressive disease of the central nervous system that people develop most often after the age of 50, characterized by muscular tremors¹⁶, slowing of movement, partial facial paralysis¹⁷ and overall weakness

Minnesotan (n) （美国）明尼苏达州人 someone from the state of Minnesota, in the United States

degenerative disorder (n) 退化型失调 an illness in which the body or a part of the body gradually stops working

保持乐观，拥有健康

杨嘉倩 译

 

你通常看事情光明的那一面吗？发现一线希望？或者你抱着悲观的看法，专注于灰暗的一面，而且做最坏的打算？

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世上有乐观的人，也有想要把他们勒死的人。   

乐观主义者倾向期待最佳状况，悲观主义者则假设坏事终将临头。我们看待大多数事情都有一个框架，据说这个框架是由一些幼年时期的经历与基因组合而成的。   

你属于哪一个阵营？你的答案可能会为你的健康带来各种不同的结果。许多研究指出，暗淡的观点会导致暗淡的后果——可能严重到免疫系统功能迟缓、得心脏病，甚至早死的程度。新的研究结果让事情看起来更糟，在悲观主义者得担心的事情上，又加上两种可怕的神经学疾病。

 

先听坏消息   

最近的科学研究发现，悲观主义者跟与他们相反的乐天派比起来更容易患痴呆。类似的一项研究也发现他们患帕金森症的风险较高。

沃尔特·若卡博士说：“心理学家总将健康的问题归咎于悲观主义，可是我一直到现在才相信这样的看法。”沃尔特·若卡博士是明尼苏达州罗彻斯特市梅医学诊所学院的神经学教授，也是前两项研究的研究员。   

若卡和同事们追踪了数千个明尼苏达州人，这些人在20世纪60年代接受一项性格测验。那些在悲观倾向方面得分较高的受试者，在之后长达40年里，有高出其它人30%的几率会患痴呆。另一群明尼苏达州人则显示悲观主义与患帕金森症的关联更强：悲观主义者患退化性失调疾病的几率较其它人高出50％。

若卡强调，这些统计资料显示的不是因果关系，而只是关联性。虽然这些研究并非设计来解释原因，不过仍可能提供了一个线索。研究员也回溯这些明尼苏达州居民在那些个性测试上的焦虑程度，发现焦虑指数与脑部疾病间也有一种类似关联。

1 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

3 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

4 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

5 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

6 pessimist   

n.悲观者；悲观主义者；厌世

参考例句：

• An optimist laughs to forget.A pessimist forgets to laugh.乐观者笑着忘却，悲观者忘记怎样笑。
• The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.悲观者在每个机会中都看到困难，乐观者在每个困难中都看到机会。

7 pessimists   

n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pessimists tell us that the family as we know it is doomed. 悲观主义者告诉我们说，我们现在的这种家庭注定要崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Experts on the future are divided into pessimists and optimists. 对未来发展进行预测的专家可分为悲观主义者和乐观主义者两类。 来自互联网

8 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

9 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

10 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

11 blithe   

adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的

参考例句：

• Tonight,however,she was even in a blithe mood than usual.但是，今天晚上她比往常还要高兴。
• He showed a blithe indifference to her feelings.他显得毫不顾及她的感情。

12 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

13 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

14 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。

15 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

16 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。

17 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。