VOA常速英语2015--一型糖尿病患者严格控制血糖或能长命百岁（在线收听）

Longer Lives For Type 1 Diabetics Who Strictly Control Blood Sugar 一型糖尿病患者严格控制血糖或能长命百岁

People with type 1 diabetes are more likely to have an early death and suffer severe long-term complications than the rest of the population.  A new study looks at whether maintaining tighter control of blood sugar levels over time can help lower these risks.  

Ralph Dineen was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes more than 30 years ago. He wears an insulin pump and tests his blood sugar five times a day.

拉尔夫·迪恩30多年前被诊断出一型糖尿病。从那时起一天五次他就要戴着胰岛素泵测试自己的血糖。

“When I became diabetic it was a very confusing moment in my life. You know, I was about 30 years old and it came out of nowhere at me," said Dineen.

“当糖尿病找上门来时这是我生命中非常混乱的时刻。你知道,快要30岁这个节骨眼上这种病不知道从哪冒出来。”

Dineen participated in a study that lasted seven years in the mid-1980's.  Half the participants, including Dineen, were instructed on how to maintain tight control of their blood sugar. The other half controlled their sugar more loosely.

迪恩在八十年代中期曾参与一项持续7年的研究。包括迪恩在内的一半参与者被指示如何保持严格控制血糖。另一半的人则控制的更为宽松。

A new study looked at the data to determine whether this intensive blood sugar control would help reduce long-term complications of the disease like vision loss, kidney failure, nerve damage and heart disease.

而现在观察这项数据的一项新研究要确定强化血糖控制是否将有助于降低诸如视力丧失,肾功能衰竭,神经损伤和心脏病等长期疾病并发症的风险。

Dr. David Nathan at Massachusetts General Hospital is one of the study's co-authors.

马萨诸塞州综合医院领导这项研究的大卫·内森说道。

“Tighter blood sugar control reduced those complications by as much as 60 to 70 percent," said Nathan.

“更严格的血糖控制将并发症的几率减少60%至70%。”

The researchers continued to follow 99 percent of these patients after the study ended in 1993.  They wanted to see whether maintaining tighter blood sugar control early on would result in a longer lifespan.

这项研究于1993年结束后研究人员们继续追踪99%病人的情况。他们想观察维持严格的血糖控制是否会带来更长的寿命。

“And it turns out that although the entire group is doing quite well, including those who were originally on conventional therapy, those with intensive therapy have a reduction in mortality by about 33 percent," said Nathan.

“事实证明整个小组都非常出色,那些最初接受传统疗法的人也是,但那些强化治疗将死亡率减少约33%。”

“…there is no thickening of the lens, no cataracts developing, which is great…”

“水晶体没有加厚,白内障没有发展,这真的很伟大…”

“People with type 1 diabetes are not only doing better if they have intensive therapy but that their life span is probably approximating that in the non-diabetic population," said Nathan.

“一型糖尿病患者如果进行强化治疗不仅会更好,而且其寿命大概会向非糖尿病人群靠拢。”

Researchers are now trying to identify genetic and environmental causes of the disease and to see if they can get cells to produce insulin. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  

研究人员们现在正试图确定引发这种疾病的遗传和环境因素并且就是否能让细胞产生胰岛素进行试验。这项研究已经在《美国医学协会杂志》上发表。