美国国家公共电台 NPR Walk Your Dog, But Watch Your Footing: Bone Breaks Are On The Rise

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Walking your dog is a good way to get regular exercise. But a new study included in the surgery publication of the Journal of the American Medical Association finds there is some risk in this as well. Here's NPR's Patti Neighmond.

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE¹: Walking calmly is fine, of course. It's when a dog yanks or lunges on their leash² you can fall and break a bone. That's what happened to 69-year-old Susan Bush when she took her shepherd mix, Piper, outside.

SUSAN BUSH: A bear came out of the woods, and I held on to her leash to encourage her not to chase the bear.

NEIGHMOND: But the dog lunged, and Bush ended up breaking her leg. She had surgery and rehab but still struggles to walk.

BUSH: I was a speed walker, and I'm - you know, I can barely hobble around.

NEIGHMOND: Older people are more vulnerable to fractures. And orthopedic surgeon Jaimo Ahn says he's seeing patients like Bush more and more. He headed the study at the University of Pennsylvania, which looked at patients 65 and older who went to hospital ERs after they fell while walking their dog.

JAIMO AHN: What we found was interesting and a little bit unexpected.

NEIGHMOND: Between 2004 and '17, the number of these injuries more than doubled. The most common fracture? The upper arm.

AHN: That makes sense because usually, when you fall, you try to brace³ yourself with your arms.

NEIGHMOND: But nearly 1 in 5 people suffered more dangerous hip⁴ fractures. Now, Ahn doesn't want to discourage dog-walking. Neither does preventive medicine specialist Dr. Tim Church.

TIM CHURCH: Sitting on that couch hours on end carries extensive health and mental health risks, and the benefits of being physically⁵ active far outweigh⁶ the risks of being inactive.

NEIGHMOND: And even though these injuries are on the rise, Church says they're still pretty rare.

CHURCH: Life's a contact sport. There's risk with everything. There's risk with jogging. There - risk with driving to work. And there's certainly going to be risk associated with walking a dog.

NEIGHMOND: If you want to be on the safe side, he says, go to a dog park where your dog can be off-leash. Patti Neighmond, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

3 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

4 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。