《中英對照讀新聞》Loneliness linked to high blood pressure in people over 50 半百孤寂人易患高血壓

◎ 陳成良

Loneliness in people over 50 greatly increases their risk of high blood pressure, researchers say, in the latest study to underscore the health advantages of friends and family.

孤獨的50歲以上人士罹患高血壓症的風險較大，研究人員在一項強調親友有益健康的最新研究中指出。

The loneliest people studied had blood pressure readings as much as 30 points higher than those who were not lonely, suggesting that loneliness can be as bad for the heart as being overweight or inactive, the researchers said.

研究中，最孤獨的人血壓比不孤獨者高出30點，顯示孤獨感對心臟的負面影響等同於過胖或怠惰不動，研究人員表示。

Study participants were asked on a 20-item questionnaire to rate the degree to which they lacked companionship. "The magnitude of this association is quite stunning," said University of Chicago scientist Louise Hawkley, the study's lead author.

研究人員要求這些參與實驗的人填寫一份列有20個項目的調查問卷，以衡量其缺乏友誼的程度。 「這種關聯性的程度相當驚人」，該項研究報告主要撰稿人、芝加哥大學科學家路易斯．哈克利說。

Hawkley said the findings hint that one strategy for treating high blood pressure might be to get more involved, "do volunteer work, make yourself useful".

哈克利表示，這些發現暗示治療高血壓的其中一個策略是讓病患更積極參與活動，「從事志願工作，對社會有所貢獻。」

新聞辭典

underscore：及物動詞，在…下劃線；強調，同underline。

inactive：形容詞，怠惰的；行動緩慢的。Bears are inactive during the winter.（熊在冬天變得怠惰。）

questionnaire：名詞，（調查情況用的）問卷；（意見）調查表。例句：It took me quite a while to fill out the questionnaire.（填寫那份問卷花了我好長一段時間。）