缺乏维生素D影响大脑功能

Low Levels of Vitamin D Might Hurt Your Brain 缺乏维生素D影响大脑功能

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Health experts have long known that vitamin D is important for healthy bones and teeth. It may also help to protect the body against diseases such as diabetes¹ and cancer. And now, researchers say vitamin D might help fight brain diseases called dementias.

Dementias are brain diseases that damage thinking and memory processes, what scientists call “cognitive² abilities.” Dementias are difficult to treat. Taking care of someone who has dementia is extremely demanding. And the disease is very frightening to sufferers.

Chris Roberts suffers from dementia. He says the worst part of living with this disease was getting lost while driving.

"The worst thing that I found was getting lost in the car, not just forgetting where I was going - I wouldn't know where I was."

More than 47 million people around the world suffer from dementia. The World Health Organization reports that 60 percent of them live in low- and middle-income countries.

Now a new study in the United States shows a possible link between dementia and low levels of vitamin D.

From where do we get vitamin D?

We get vitamin D from some foods like nuts, lentils and fatty fish like salmon³ and mackerel.

We also get vitamin D from the sun. But that is not dependable. In some parts of the world, there is not enough sunlight to provide enough vitamin D.

Also, sunblock substances prevent the vitamin from entering the body. To add to the problem, the skin’s ability to process vitamin D weakens as a person ages. As a result, low levels of vitamin D are common among older people.

Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey⁴ are exploring the relationship between vitamin D and dementia. The team recently measured vitamin D levels and cognitive ability in older people.

Nutritional⁵ sciences professor Joshua Miller⁶ led the team. He said cognitive abilities differed among the study subjects. He said tests showed that about 60 percent of the group was low in vitamin D.

"Some of the subjects had outright⁷ dementia, some had mild cognitive impairment and some had what we would call normal cognitive functioning."

Those subjects who had low vitamin D levels showed more short-term memory loss. They were also less able to organize thoughts, order tasks by importance and make decisions.

"Those who had dementia also had lower vitamin D status than those who had mild cognitive impairment or who had normal cognitive functioning.”

The findings suggest that vitamin D might play a part in slowing dementia. But, more studies are needed to see if vitamin D supplements could help.

The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology.

And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report.

Words in This Story

dementia – n. a brain disease that causes thinking problems

cognitive – adj. of, relating to, or involving conscious mental activities (such as thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering)

status – n. the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society, organization, group, etc.

mild – adj. not strong in action or effect

impairment – n. a condition in which a part of your body or mind is damaged and does not work well

functioning – n. work or operation

decline – v. to become lower in amount or less in number : to become worse in condition or quality

adequate – adj. enough for some need or requirement : of a quality that is good or acceptable

supplement – n. dietary :  a product taken orally that contains one or more ingredients (as vitamins or amino acids) that are intended to supplement one's diet and are not considered food

1 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

2 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

3 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。