新奇事件簿 高跟鞋致腓肠肌收缩

Scientists have found out that women who wear high-heel shoes make the calf¹ muscles shorter. The heels also give many women pain in their legs when they take them off and walk. The researchers tested different women aged² between 20 and 50 who wore heels that were 5cm or higher. The research, which covered a two-year period, also looked at women who never wore high heels. The research team used ultrasound to measure the length of the fibres in the calf muscles. Their results showed that the muscle fibres of high-heel wearers were 13 per cent shorter than those in the non-high-heel-wearing women. Lead researcher Professor Marco Narci said: "This confirmed the hypothesis³ that when you place the muscle in a shorter position, the fibres become shorter.”

科学家发现，常穿高跟鞋女性会使腓肠肌收缩。脱去高跟鞋后，脚后跟常会带来疼痛感。研究人员对年龄在20-50的女性进行了研究，她们的高跟鞋高度均在5厘米或以上。此次为期两年的研究还对从不穿高跟鞋女性进行了研究。研究小组还利用超声波对腓肠肌纤维长度进行了检测。据研究结果显示，高跟鞋女性的肌纤维比不穿者缩短13%。研究组长马尔科·南希教授表示：“研究结果证实了这一假设，肌肉会因高度增高而致肌纤维缩短。

The researchers also found that women who regularly wore high heels suffered more muscle aches and pains when they took their shoes off. This is because their muscles are being overstretched for long periods and do not have time to relax. Professor Narci said it was harder for women to stretch their feet out when they took their shoes off. He did advise women to do simple stretching exercises to relieve⁴ the pain. "If you stand on your tip toes and lower your heels up and down again it will stretch out the tendons making it easier to walk without heels,” he said. He did not suggest women stop wearing high heels but recommended wearing flat shoes a little more often."Fashion is intended to be uncomfortable and none of the women in the study planned to give up their high heels," he said.

研究人员还发现，对于长期穿高跟鞋女性，肌肉疼痛感会在不穿时更明显。由于肌肉过分伸展时间过长，又无法得到休息。南希教授表示，她们的脚也很难在脱鞋后延展开来。他建议女性们进行简单的伸展运动，缓解疼痛。他表示：“如果用脚尖站立，或是让脚后跟上下活动，这样也会延伸跟腱肌肉，拖鞋后也不会那么痛苦。”他并没有建议女性不穿高跟鞋，但推荐人们多穿一些平跟鞋。他表示：“流行本来就不舒服，还没有一位受访者计划放弃高跟鞋。”

1 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 hypothesis   

n.假说，假设，(无根据的)猜测，揣测

参考例句：

• We have proved the hypothesis.我们已经证明了这种假设。
• The results confirmed his hypothesis on the use of modal verbs.结果证实了他的关于情态动词用法的假设。

4 relieve   

v.缓解，减轻，解除(痛苦、忧虑、麻烦)

参考例句：

• We played games to relieve the tedium of the journey.我们玩游戏，来解除旅行的沉闷。
• The doctors did their best to relieve the patient.医生们尽力减轻病人的痛苦。