2007年VOA标准英语-New Trend Among Those Trying to Prevent Dementi

By Carol Pearson
Washington
18 June 2007
 

The number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease is expected to quadruple by the year 2050. Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, say 106 million people worldwide will develop the disease by that time. They refer to the situation as a "global epidemic," and they say 43 percent of those with the disease in 2050 will require high-level care. The research shows the largest increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer's will occur in Asia, where nearly half of the world's Alzheimer's patients currently live.

These statistics, and the experience of watching loved ones slip into this disease, have more people doing what they can to prevent the onset¹ of Alzheimer's.  VOA's Carol Pearson reports.

Participants in a brain exercise class, including Nancy Levitt, center

Researchers at the University of California say the brain begins to show signs of aging when we are in our early 20s. They estimate that only one third of what determines memory ability and long-term brain health is genetically² programmed.

Researchers say the factors in brain health are actually dictated³ by things that are under our own control, such as lifestyle and personal health. 

That said, many Americans are taking this information to heart to try to enhance the fitness of their brains.  At a "brain gym,” people are getting a mental workout with computer programs that exercise the brain like a muscle. 

Many Americans, like Nancy Levitt, have watched parents and other family members suffer from Alzheimer's. "I'm more frightened of this than getting in a car accident or something horrible like that," she admits.

So she enrolled⁴ in a memory class with Dr. Gary Small at the University of California, Los Angeles. "If you learn specific memory techniques, you will improve your memory performance -- not only in a very short period of time, but you can have sustained effects up to four or five years," says the doctor.

Other experts on aging say you do not have to go to a brain gym or use equipment that sends neurotransmitters to exercise your mind.  Professor David Loewenstein, at the University of Miami Medical School, says, "There is no data or scientific evidence to suggest that these programs are any more effective than other alternatives, such as anagrams, crossword⁵ puzzles."

Many people sign up for brain training programs because they are frightened. Says Levitt, "I'm trying to save my own life, make it last longer and better."

Loewenstein says Alzheimer's patients can learn skills that are meaningful, and that these skills can be maintained. Skills such as re-learning the names of common objects. It does not stop the disease, but it can keep an Alzheimer's patient functioning longer. 

1 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

2 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

3 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 crossword   

n.纵横字谜，纵横填字游戏

参考例句：

• He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。
• Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸，我还没做字谜游戏呢。