2023年经济学人 让免疫系统睡个好觉(1)

 

    Give it a rest

    休息一下吧

    To ensure vaccines² work properly, get a good night’s sleep.

    为了确保疫苗正常工作，晚上睡个好觉。

    Vaccines get all the glory, but it is really the immune system that does the heavy lifting.

    获得了所有荣誉的是疫苗，但实际上是免疫系统做了繁重的工作。

    Indeed, those with weak immune systems often benefit little from vaccines.

    事实上，免疫系统较弱的人从疫苗中受益很少。

    Aware of this, researchers have long thought that people deprived of sleep意识到这一点，研究人员长期以来一直认为，睡眠不足的人also ought to benefit less from vaccines, as sleeping less is thought to reduce immune function.

    从疫苗中受益也应该较少，因为睡眠不足被认为会降低免疫功能。

    A new analysis reveals that this is clearly the case—though only in men.

    一项新的分析报告表明，情况确实如此——尽管仅限于男性。

    The immune system is metabolically³ expensive for the body to operate.

    免疫系统的运作需要大量的新陈代谢。

    When resources run low, it cannot function as well as it might when well supported.

    当资源不足时，它无法像得到全力支持时那样发挥作用。

    This is why people who are profoundly cold for long periods of time tend to fall ill—这就是为什么长时间处于极度寒冷的人容易生病——their bodies are burning calories to stay warm that might otherwise have been used to fuel their defence.

    他们的身体正在燃烧卡路里来保持温暖，不然这些卡路里就会被用来增强抵抗力。

    The immune system is similarly hamstrung by a lack of sleep since a number of its key components,睡眠不足同样会削弱免疫系统的功能，因为免疫系统的许多关键成分，such as the white blood cells that produce antibodies, are predominantly made by the body when a person is slumbering⁴.

    如产生抗体的白细胞，主要是在人睡眠时由身体产生的。

    Yet it has remained unclear whether poor sleep at a time of vaccination⁵ leads to reduced immune benefits.

    然而，目前尚不清楚接种疫苗时睡眠不足是否会导致免疫益处降低。

    Vaccines work by presenting the immune system with the foreign material of a pathogen.

    疫苗的工作原理是向免疫系统提供病原体的外来物质。

    The system reacts by making antibodies, though these do not last for ever—系统通过产生抗体来进行反应，尽管这些抗体不会永远持续——they circulate in great numbers shortly after a real or vaccine¹-induced invasion它们在真正或疫苗诱导的病毒入侵不久后大量循环，but their population wanes⁶ over time.

    但随着时间的推移，它们的数量会逐渐减少。

    Eventually, another shot of vaccine is needed to boost the antibody count.

    最终，需要再注射一针疫苗来增加抗体数量。

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

3 metabolically   

代谢的（metabolic的副词形式）

参考例句：

• Intact skin is a highly complex, metabolically active organ. 完整的皮肤是一个高度复杂、代谢灵敏的器官。 来自辞典例句

4 slumbering   

微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• It was quiet. All the other inhabitants of the slums were slumbering. 贫民窟里的人已经睡眠静了。
• Then soft music filled the air and soothed the slumbering heroes. 接着，空中响起了柔和的乐声，抚慰着安睡的英雄。

5 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

6 wanes   

v.衰落( wane的第三人称单数 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• The moon waxes till it becomes full, and then wanes. 月亮渐盈，直到正圆，然后消亏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The moon waxes and wanes every month. 月亮每个月都有圆缺。 来自《简明英汉词典》