早年贪吃 晚年白痴

It's most people's biggest health fear. But whether you get dementia, scientists now believe, is mostly a matter of lifestyle; it hinges on what you eat every single day. Here's a guide to making the choices that will preserve a healthy mind—starting right now! 痴呆症是人们十分惧怕的疾病。不管你是否有痴呆，科学家们认为，它的出现与人的生活方式紧密相关；它取决于我们每天吃什么。早年选择合理饮食，有利于保护我们健康大脑，避免大脑受损。我们应该予以重视了！

When it comes to aging, life can be cruel. There's plenty to...well...let's come right out and say it: think about. What will happen to my looks? What will happen to my body? 许多人步入老年之后，随着年龄增加，生活会遇到各种不便、困难与痛苦。如何应对这些变化，有许多事情值得我们思考。如何看待这个问题？首先我们得从注意自己身体变化做起。

Will I still be able to pursue my interests? What will happen to my mind? 生活能不能有自己嗜好？每天饮食对我们大脑会有什么影响？

That last question is now the second leading health concern (after cancer) among adults in at least four Western countries—France, Germany, and Spain, as well as the United States—according to a recent survey by the Harvard University School of Public Health and the Alzheimer Europe consortium. Fear of developing dementia would likely stir even more concern if Americans didn't mistakenly believe a cure for Alzheimer's disease exists (more than 45 percent of U.S. respondents think there is an effective treatment). Despite the lack of a cure, great progress has been made in the past three decades in understanding the disease. 哈佛大学公共卫生学院和欧洲阿尔茨海默疾病联盟最近一份调查称，大脑痴呆症已成为仅次于癌症第二大健康问题，在西方国家如法国、德国、西班牙和美国等的成年人中尤其如此。美国人对痴呆症的担忧引发的焦虑，似乎对老年痴呆症治疗丧失了信心：问卷调查发现，只有百分之四十五多美国人认为，老年痴呆症有希望找到医治方法。虽然治愈目前尚无取得成功，但三十年来对该病的理解已取得巨大进步。

The most common cause of dementia, or severe cognitive decline, and the sixth leading cause of death in the U. S., Alzheimer's disease is marked by difficulty storing new memories and recalling recent events, loss of ability to track day-to-day information, a disrupted sense of time and space, social withdrawal, irritability, and mood swings. The neurodegenerative condition typically manifests after age 60. Life expectancy in the U.S. is currently about 78 years and rising. The 5.4 million Americans who suffer from the illness include 13 percent of those over age 65. 据调查，老年痴呆症已成为美国第六大杀手。痴呆症最常见症状是，认知能力急速下降，存储记忆困难，难以回忆发生事情，不能跟踪记住发生信息，没有时间与空间感觉，离群孤僻，个性暴躁和情绪极端不稳。特别是年龄超过60岁之后，这种神经衰退症状尤其突出。美国现在人口平均寿命大约为78岁，并有增加趋势。但是，美国患有痴呆症病的人数却有540万，其中有13%的痴呆病人年龄超过65岁；中国老年痴呆的患者数也呈显著上升趋势，据统计，目前患者总数约有600万，10%的病人年龄超过65岁。

Scientists attribute the debilitating disorder to the gradual accumulation between brain cells of a toxic protein, beta-amyloid, that blocks the transmission of information from cell to cell, wipes out synapses, and disrupts basic neuron function, leading to cell death. Inflammatory processes are also involved in memory loss. 科学家们认为，造成大脑失调不断恶化主要原因是，脑细胞毒蛋白与β（贝它）淀粉样蛋白逐渐沉淀积聚，阻碍细胞间信息传递，使神经突触消失，神经功能下降，从而导致细胞死亡。在这病变过程中，同时也引起记忆损失。

The vast majority of Alzheimer's cases—over 99 percent—occur spontaneously; they are not linked to genetic factors. But they are linked to obesity. Researchers find that the same lifestyle choices that lead people to become obese or develop heart disease also increase the risk of developing dementia. 绝大多数老年痴呆症病患者（99%以上）是自然而然形成的，与遗传基因并无关系，但与肥胖有关。研究人员已经证实，肥胖和引发心脏病的生活方式给痴呆症疾病带来重大风险。

It comes down to this: Choices we make throughout life about what we put in our bodies may protect against Alzheimer's, or delay its onset. At the very least, says neuroscientist Gary Wenk, "We can slow down the time that it takes for someone to get symptoms." Professor of psychology, neuroscience, and molecular virology, immunology, and medical genetics at The Ohio State University, Wenk is author of the book Your Brain on Food. 研究得出结论：在我们整个人生中，选择正确的生活方式，每天吃些什么，能有效地预防老年痴呆症，或推迟它的发生。神经科学家加里 温克（Gary Wenk ）说，至少“可延迟痴呆症状出现。” 加里 温克是美国俄亥俄州州立大学心理学、神经科学、分子病毒学、免疫学和医学遗传学教授，是《大脑与饮食（Your Brain on Food）》一书作者。

Heading off dementia, he insists, starts with what we eat. Food should be thought of the same way as the drugs we put in our body. They're all made up of chemicals. Everything we consume prompts a reaction in the brain. Picking the right foods can minimize damage to neurons and preserve a healthy mind as you age. 他认为，我们预防痴呆症应从日常饮食开始。食物如同进入我们体内的药品一样，全是化学物质构成的。我们吃下所有食物都会在我们大脑产生反应。选择正确食物对我们年迈之后有助于降低大脑神经细胞的损坏，保护好我们大脑健康。