《中英對照讀新聞》Obesity increases risk of dementia in old age
肥胖增加老年罹患癡呆症的風險

◎陳成良

If the threat of diabetes, heart disease and stroke weren't enough incentive for obese people to lose weight, scientists have discovered another -- dementia.

如果糖尿病、心臟病及中風的威脅，不足以成為刺激肥胖者減重的誘因，科學家找到另一個理由：癡呆症。

Researchers in the United States have shown that obesity, particularly in women, increases the risk developing dementia later in life.

美國研究人員已證明，肥胖，特別是女人，會升高老年罹患癡呆症的風險。

"Obesity in middle age increases the risk of future dementia," said Dr Rachel Whitmer, of Kaiser Permanente, a health care organisation in Oakland, California.

「中年肥胖，會增加未來罹患癡呆症的風險，」加州奧克蘭衛生護理機構Kaiser Permanente的芮秋•惠特莫博士說。

She and her colleagues studied more than 10,000 men and women who were given detailed health evaluations from 1964 to 1973 when they were 40-45 years old.

她與同僚針對一萬多名男女進行研究，從一九六四至一九七三年當他們四十`到四十五歲之間，為他們做健康評估。

After a 27-year follow-up, seven percent of the patients had developed dementia. "People who were obese in mid-life were 74 percent more likely to have dementia, while overweight people were 35 percent more likely to have dementia compared to those with normal weight," said Whitmer.

經過二十七年追蹤，發現七％患者罹患癡呆症。「中年發福的人罹患癡呆症的比率高出七十四％，相較於體重正常的人，過重的人罹患癡呆症比率高出三十五％，」惠特莫說。

Dictionary-新聞辭典

obesity：名詞，（過度）肥胖。形容詞為obese，用這個字來形容人，表示此人已經相當肥胖（very fat）。

stroke：本文中是醫學名詞「中風」。stroke另有「打、敲、一擊」的意思，用法如：a stroke of the lash （抽一鞭子）。

increase the risk of：增加…的風險。醫學研究指出，肥胖增加中風的風險。英文是：Obesity increases the risk of stroke.