This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

A new study suggests that early exposure to germs strengthens the immune system. That means letting children get a little dirty might be good for their health later in life.

一项新的研究表明，早期接触细菌能增强免疫系统。这意味着让孩子脏一点可能对他们以后的健康有利。

The study involved laboratory mice. It found that adult mice raised in a germ-free environment were more likely to develop allergies, asthma and other autoimmune disorders. There are more than eighty disorders where cells that normally defend the body instead attack tissues and organs.

这项研究涉及了实验小鼠。研究发现，在无菌环境下长大的成年鼠更容易患上过敏症、哮喘和其它自身免疫性疾病。在超过80种免疫失调疾病中，通常保护身体的细胞会转而攻击组织和器官。

They include rheumatoid arthritis, which attacks the joints; Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition; and juvenile diabetes. Hay fever, a common allergy, is also an autoimmune disorder.

这些疾病包括攻击关节的类风湿关节炎、肠道炎症性疾病克罗恩病以及青少年糖尿病。一种常见的过敏症，花粉热，也是一种自身免疫性疾病。

Richard Blumberg is a professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He says in nineteen eighty-nine, medical researchers sought to explain these diseases with what they called the "hygiene hypothesis." They proposed that the increasing use of antibacterial soaps and other products, especially early in life, could weaken immune systems.

理查德·布隆伯格(Richard Blumberg)是位于马萨诸塞州波士顿市的哈佛医学院的一名教授。他说，在1989年，医学研究人员曾试图用他们所谓的“卫生假说”来解释这些疾病。这些研究人员提出，越来越多地使用抗菌肥皂和其它产品，特别是在生命早期，可能会削弱免疫系统。

RICHARD BLUMBERG: "The hypothesis has stated or suggested that early-life exposure to microbes is a very important determinant of later life sensitivity to allergic and so-called autoimmune diseases, such as hay fever, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and others."

布隆伯格：“该假说宣称或暗示，生命早期暴露在微生物中，是生命后期对过敏症的敏感性和所谓的自身免疫系统疾病，如花粉热、哮喘、倡导炎症性疾病等的重要决定因素。”

Now, Dr. Blumberg and a team have what they say is the first biological evidence to link early exposure to germs to stronger adult immune systems. They say this exposure could prevent the development of some autoimmune diseases.

目前，布隆伯格博士及团队得到了他们所说的把早期接触细菌与增强成年人免疫系统联系起来的第一份生物证据。他们表示，这种接触可以防止某些自身免疫性疾病的发展。

In the adult germ-free mice, they found that inflammation in the lungs and colon was caused by so-called killer T cells. These normally fight infection. But they became overactive and targeted healthy tissue -- an autoimmune condition seen in asthma and a disease called ulcerative colitis.

在成年无菌鼠身上，他们发现肺部和结肠的炎症是所谓的杀手T细胞引起的。杀手T细胞通常对抗感染，但它们变得过度活跃就会针对健康组织，也就是哮喘和溃疡性结肠炎中可以看到的自身免疫状况。

Dr. Blumberg says the mice raised in a normal environment did not have the same reaction. He says their immune systems had been "educated" by early exposure to germs.

布隆伯格博士说，在正常环境下长大的小鼠没有同样的反应，它们的免疫系统已经经历过早期接触细菌的“洗礼”。

RICHARD BLUMBERG: "What was really most remarkable to us was the fact that once the education event provided by the microbes occurred in early life, it was durable and lasted throughout the life of the animal."

Rates of autoimmune disorders are rising worldwide, but mostly in wealthier, industrialized countries.

全球范围内，自身免疫性疾病比例不断上升，但主要发生在富裕的工业化国家。

RICHARD BLUMBERG: "I think one obvious question, for example, that’s raised by these studies is the early life use of antibiotics and whether we need to be more careful in their prescribing."

布隆伯格：“我认为这些研究提出的一个明显的问题就是，生命早期阶段抗生素的使用以及我们在处方上是否需要更加谨慎。”

Rob Dunn is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He says the new study does not mean people should stop washing.

罗布·邓恩是位于罗利市的北卡罗来纳州立大学的一名生态学及进化生物学教授。他说，这项新研究并不意味着人们应当停止清洗身体。

ROB DUNN: "Wash your hands, but don't do it with antimicrobial soap. Let your kids play in a reasonable amount of dirt and get outside and get exposed to a diversity of things."

邓恩：“洗手，但不要使用抗菌肥皂。让您的孩子在合适数量的灰尘中玩耍，去到外面，去接触多元化事物。”

The study appears in the journal Science.

该研究发表在《科学》杂志上。

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.

___

Contributing: Jessica Berman