橄榄油可以保护大脑防止痴呆

    From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活报道。

    The health value of a Mediterranean diet is widely known. Fruits, vegetables and fish are main foods in this diet.
    地中海式饮食的健康价值广为人知。水果、蔬菜和鱼类是这种饮食中的主要食物。

    Extra-virgin olive oil is also a major part of the Mediterranean diet. And new research shows that it may protect the brain from losing its ability to work properly.
    特级初榨橄榄油也是地中海式饮食的重要组成部分。而新的研究表明,它可以防止大脑失去正常的工作能力。

    Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania say extra-virgin olive oil "protects memory and learning ability." Extra-virgin olive oil, also called EVOO, can reduce the formation of poisons in the brain that are signs of Alzheimer's disease.
    宾夕法尼亚州费城市天普大学的研究人员表示,特级初榨橄榄油可以“保护记忆和学习能力。”特级初榨橄榄油也被称之为EVOO,它可以减少大脑中毒素的形成,而这是阿尔茨海默症的征兆。

    But how does it do it?
    但是它是怎么做到的呢?

    Researchers say olive oil reduces inflammation in the brain. It also activates a cleaning process. This process is called autophagy.
    研究人员表示,橄榄油可以减少大脑中的炎症。它还能激活被称之为自噬的清洁过程。

    Autophagy is when cells break down waste and poisons found between cells and remove them from the body.
    自噬是指细胞分解细胞间发现的垃圾和毒素,并将其从体内清除。

    There are two substances in the brain most closely linked to memory loss in Alzheimer's patients: amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary, or tau tangles.
    阿尔茨海默症患者的大脑中存在着两种跟失忆密切相关的物质:淀粉样蛋白斑和神经原纤维或陶蛋白缠结。

    What are amyloid plaques and tau tangles?
    什么是淀粉样蛋白斑和陶蛋白缠结?

    For definitions of both amyloid plaque and tau tangle, we go to experts at New Jersey's Rutgers University and the U.S.-based Alzheimer's Organization.
    为了获得淀粉样蛋白斑和陶蛋白缠结的定义,我们去找了新泽西州罗格斯大学和美国阿尔茨海默症组织的专家。

    Amyloid is a protein normally found throughout the body.
    淀粉样蛋白是人体各处都有的一种蛋白质。

    However, the experts say when amyloid grows abnormally it creates a sticky build-up called plaque outside the nerve cells, or neurons. This abnormal amyloid plaque slowly kills the cells.
    专家表示,然而当淀粉样蛋白生长异常时,它就会在神经细胞或神经元之外产生一种被称之为斑块的粘稠集聚。这种异常淀粉样蛋白斑会慢慢地杀死细胞。

    Tau proteins are common in the central nervous system.
    陶蛋白在中枢神经系统中很常见。

    Tangles form inside dying neurons. Tangles are twisted fibers of tau protein.
    缠结在垂死的神经元中形成。缠结是陶蛋白的缠绕纤维。

    Experts from both organizations explain that, normally, every neuron contains long fibers made of protein. These proteins hold the neuron in its proper shape. They also help to transport nutrients within the neuron.
    两家组织的专家解释称,通常情况下,每个神经元都含有由蛋白质形成的长纤维。这些蛋白质保持神经元的正确形状。它们还有助于神经元内营养物质的运输。

    However, in brains with Alzheimer's disease, these fibers begin to tangle. This causes the neuron to lose its shape. The neuron also becomes unable to transport nutrients. Over time, it dies.
    然而,在阿尔茨海默症患者的大脑中,这些纤维开始缠结。这导致神经元失去其形状。这些神经元还变得不能运输营养物质。久而久之它们就死亡了。

    The recent Temple University study
    天普大学最新的研究

    Domenico Praticò is the lead researcher of the Temple University study.
    Domenico Praticò是天普大学这项研究的首席研究员。

    He says, "brain cells from mice fed diets enriched with extra-virgin olive oil had higher levels of autophagy" and lower levels of the poisons -- the amyloid plaques and tau tangles.
    他说,“喂养富含特级初榨橄榄油的小鼠的脑细胞具有较高的自噬水平以及较低的毒素水平。这些毒素就是指淀粉样蛋白斑和陶蛋白缠结。”

    For their study, the researchers looked at mice that had three traits of Alzheimer's: memory loss, amyloid plaques, and tau tangles.
    研究人员在他们的研究中观察了具备失忆、淀粉样蛋白斑和陶蛋白缠结这三种阿尔茨海默症特征的小鼠。

    They put the mice into two groups. Researchers gave one group a diet with extra-virgin olive oil. They gave the other group a diet without EVOO.
    他们把这些小白鼠分为两组。研究人员给其中一组提供了富含特级初榨橄榄油的饮食,给另一组提供了不含特级初榨橄榄油的饮食。

    The olive oil was given to the mice when they were only six months old. This was before any symptoms of Alzheimer's had set in. At age 9 months and 12 months, the mice in the olive oil group performed considerably better on tasks that tested the mice's memory and learning ability.
    当这些小鼠只有6个月大时就开始给它们提供橄榄油。这是在阿尔茨海默症出现任何症状之前。在9到12个月,橄榄油组的小鼠在测试记忆和学习能力的任务中表现得更好。

    And, the scientists reported differences in the brain tissues of the two groups.
    而且科学家还报告称,两组小鼠的脑组织存在差异。

    The brains of the olive oil group showed a great increase in nerve-cell autophagy. This cell-cleaning process is responsible for the lower levels of the poisons we talked about earlier -- the amyloid plaques and tau tangles.
    橄榄油组小鼠的大脑神经细胞的自噬出现大幅增长。这种细胞清洁过程就造成了我们前面谈到的毒素水平更低,也就是淀粉样蛋白斑和陶蛋白缠结的水平更低。

    Praticò says that "one thing that stood out immediately was" the strength of the synapses.
    Praticò表示,“立即显现出来的差异之一”是突触的强度。

    A synapse is the connection between neurons. It is how they communicate. The synapses in the mice on the EVOO diet were stronger than those in the other group.
    突触是神经元之间的连接,它是神经元沟通的渠道。特级初榨橄榄油饮食组的小鼠的突触比另一组更为强壮。

    What's next for these researchers?
    研究人员接下来的任务

    The researchers say their next step is to see what happens to mice who are given olive oil at 12 months. At that time, they will have already begun to show signs of dementia.
    研究人员表示,他们下一步就是看看12个月时这些橄榄油组的小鼠会发生什么。那时候,它们将会已经开始出现痴呆症状了。

    Praticò says that patients usually have dementia when they visit a doctor to investigate signs of the disease. He says the researchers "want to know whether olive oil added at a later time in the diet can stop or reverse the disease."
    Praticò表示,患者去就医检查老年痴呆症的迹象时,他们通常已经患病了。他说,研究人员想要知道,疾病发生后在饮食中添加橄榄油是否可以阻止或逆转这种疾病。

    The researchers published their findings online in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
    研究人员在《临床和转化性神经病学年鉴》上发表了他们的研究结果。

    And that's the Health & Lifestyle report.
    以上就是本期健康和生活报道的全部内容。

    I'm Anna Matteo.
    我是安娜·马特奥。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利,未经授权请勿转载,违者必究!)