中年壓力太大的危害

Stress in middle age can make your brain shrink and make your memory worse,scientists have discovered.

科學家發現，中年壓力會讓人的大腦萎縮和記憶力變差。

The brain-reducing effects of stress,identified in people in their 40s free from dementia,were found to be triggered by cortisol.

壓力令大腦萎縮這一影響是由皮質醇引發的?？茖W家在沒有罹患癡呆癥的40多歲人群中發現了這一影響。

The high levels of the stress hormone may be an early warning sign someone may end up with dementia,the research suggests.

研究結果表明，壓力荷爾蒙的高含量可能是一個早期預警信號，表明某人可能會患上癡呆癥。

Stress also made people’s thinking skills worse,the Harvard Medical School study,published in the journal Neurology,found.

哈佛大學醫學院的這項研究結果發現，壓力還造成人們的思維技能變差。這項結果發表在美國《神經學》周刊上。

For the research,scientists led by Dr Justin Echouffo-Tcheugui studied 2,231 people with an average age of 49 and free of dementia.

在這項研究中，以賈斯廷·埃舒福-楚吉博士為首的科學家對2231名平均年齡為49歲、沒有癡呆癥的人進行了研究。

He said:’Our research detected memory loss and brain shrinkage in middle-aged people before symptoms started to show.

埃舒福-楚吉說：“我們的研究結果發現，在癥狀開始顯現前，中年人出現了記憶力喪失和腦萎縮的情況。”

So it’s important for people to find ways to reduce stress,such as getting enough sleep,engaging in moderate exercise,incorporating relaxation techniques into their daily lives,or asking their doctor about their cortisol levels and taking a cortisol-reducing medication if needed.’

他說：“因此，人們找到減輕壓力的方法很重要，比如獲得充分睡眠，適度鍛煉，把放松技術融入日常生活，或者向醫生詢問自己的皮質醇水平，如有必要，服用降低皮質醇水平的藥物。”

He added:’It’s important for physicians to counsel all people with higher cortisol levels.’

他還說：“重要的是，醫生要向所有皮質醇水平較高的人提供咨詢。”

At the start of the study,each participant did tests on their memory and thinking skills.Then eight years later they repeated the exercises.

在研究開始時，每位參與者都接受了記憶和思維能力的測試。8年后，他們再次接受了測試。

A subset of the group,2,018 people,also had an MRI brain scan to measure the volume of their brain.

這群人中的2018人還接受了腦核磁共振掃描，以測量他們的腦容量。

Once the results were adjusted for age,sex,smoking and body mass,researchers found lower scores on tests of memory and thinking in people with higher levels of cortisol than those with average levels.

研究人員在根據年齡、性別、吸煙情況和體重進行調整后發現，皮質醇水平較高的人在記憶力和思維能力測試中的分數低于皮質醇處于平均水平的人。

In addition,people with higher cortisol levels had a smaller brain volume,with those with high cortisol having brains that were 88.5 per cent of the total cranial volume.

此外，皮質醇水平較高的人腦容量較小，其腦容量占顱容量的88.5%。

This was compared to 88.7 per cent of total cranial volume for people with normal levels of the hormone.

相比之下，皮質醇水平正常的人，其腦容量占顱容量的88.7%。

No links were found between low levels of cortisol and brain size.

研究人員沒有發現皮質醇水平低與腦容量之間存在關聯。

Cortisol,produced by the adrenal glands,helps the body respond to stress.

腎上腺分泌的皮質醇能幫助身體應對壓力。

It can also help reduce inflammation,control blood sugar and blood pressure,regulate metabolism and help with immune response.

它還能幫助減輕炎癥、控制血糖和血壓、調節新陳代謝以及幫助應對免疫反應。

High cortisol levels can be caused by stress,medical conditions or medications.

皮質醇水平高可能是由壓力、疾病或藥物造成的。

Dr Echouffo-Tcheugui said:’Cortisol affects many different functions so it is important to fully investigate how high levels of the hormone may affect the brain.’

埃舒福-楚吉博士說：“皮質醇會影響很多不同的功能，因此全面研究皮質醇水平高對大腦的可能影響非常重要。”