2020年经济学人 独处的后果(1)

Loneliness is bad for your health—certainly as bad as being obese¹, and possibly as bad as being a moderate smoker².

孤独不利健康——绝对和肥胖一样糟糕，可能也和吸烟一样有害。

So, in these days of plague, when enforced solitude³ is the order of the day in many places,

因此，在疫情肆虐的日子里，在许多地方，人们被迫独处，

how to stop solitude turning into loneliness is a pressing medical question.

如何阻止独处转化为孤独是一个紧迫的医学问题。

One part of the answer is to try to understand the physiology⁴ of the change.

答案之一是试图理解这种变化的生理学原理。

And that has, for the past few years, been the objective of Steven Cole of the University of California, Los Angeles.

在过去的几年里，这一直是加州大学洛杉矶分校的Steven Cole的目标。

Dr Cole began his work with a study he published in 2015, in collaboration⁵ with John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago.

Cole博士与芝加哥大学的John Cacioppo合作，于2015年发表了一项研究，由此开始了他的研究工作。

The pair led a team of psychologists, neuroscientists and immunologists who found that

这两人领导了一个由心理学家、神经科学家和免疫学家组成的团队，

the pattern in people's blood of immune cells called myeloid cells is notably⁶ different in those who score as "very lonely" on loneliness tests compared with those who do not.

他们发现，在孤独感测试中，评分为“非常孤独”的人和正常人相比，他们血液中被称为骨髓细胞的免疫细胞的模式差异很大。

Lonely people have unusually low numbers of a type of myeloid cell that generates what are known as interferon responses, which hamper⁷ viral replication.

孤独的人他们血液中骨髓细胞的数量异常的低，骨髓细胞可以产生干扰素反应，阻碍病毒复制。

This makes them particularly vulnerable to viral infections. They also have an abundance of a second type of myeloid cell,

这让他们尤为容易受病毒感染的影响。他们第二种骨髓细胞含量也很丰富

one that promotes the activity of genes⁸ which drive inflammation—

这是一种促进驱动炎症的基因活动的细胞——

and it has been known for years that those who feel lonely experience more inflammation than those who do not.

多年来人们都知道，感觉孤独的人比没有孤独感的人更容易患炎症。

These correlations⁹ are intriguing¹⁰, but do not explain which comes first, the loneliness or the myeloid response.

这些相关性很有趣，但并不能解释孤独和骨髓反应哪个更重要。

Dr Cole and Dr Cacioppo addressed that question by repeatedly measuring perceptions of social isolation¹¹ in individual volunteers,

Cole博士和Cacioppo博士解决了这个问题，他们重复测量每位志愿者的社会孤立感

while simultaneously¹² tracking, from blood samples, their gene-expression patterns and other changes in their physiology.

同时根据他们的血样，追踪他们的基因表达模式和其他生理变化。

They found that, initially¹³, volunteers' feelings of isolation coincided with an increase in their inflammation genes' activity

他们发现，最初，志愿者的孤立感随着炎症基因活动以及

and a concomitant increase in the circulation of immature¹⁴ immune cells, called monocytes, that are involved in inflammation—

以及与炎症相关的未成熟免疫细胞（单核细胞）循环的增加而增加——

and which are also known to travel into the brain and promote anxiety.

这些物质也会进入大脑，引发焦虑。

They noted¹⁵, too, increased levels in the brain of signalling molecules¹⁶ associated with both inflammation and behaviours such as social withdrawal¹⁷,

他们还注意到，大脑中与炎症和社交退缩、

feelings of suspicion towards the outside world and a tendency to act more defensively by making decisions that involve few risks.

对外部世界的怀疑情绪以及做出决定时的防御倾向等行为相关的信号分子水平也有所增加。

That, of course, promotes further feelings of loneliness. Which, in turn, trigger a further myeloid response. And so on.

当然，这进一步加剧了孤独感，反过来会进一步触发骨髓反应。等等。

It seems, therefore, that though loneliness starts with solitude, it can quickly take on a physiological¹⁸ life of its own.

因此，似乎孤独感始于独处，但它很快就有了自己的生理生活。

Dr Cole thus worries that the enforced isolation, brought about by current circumstances,

因此，Cole博士担心，对那些已经独处很久的人来说，当下环境所造成的的强制隔离

of those who are already living alone may create in many people a state of chronic¹⁹ loneliness that is difficult to escape from when things start returning to normal.

可能会使其中许多人产生一种长期的孤独感，当生活开始恢复正常时，他们很难摆脱这种孤独感。

1 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

2 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

3 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

4 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

5 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

6 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

7 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

8 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

9 correlations   

相互的关系( correlation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One would expect strong and positive correlations between both complexes. 人们往往以为这两个综合体之间有紧密的正相关。
• The correlations are of unequal value. 这些对应联系的价值并不相同。

10 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

12 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 immature   

adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的

参考例句：

• Tony seemed very shallow and immature.托尼看起来好像很肤浅，不夠成熟。
• The birds were in immature plumage.这些鸟儿羽翅未全。

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

17 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

18 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

19 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。