科学家称，男人要想长寿，就得娶个聪明的老婆。

Dementia experts said that having an intelligent partner can act as ‘buffer’ to the disease.

痴呆症专家说，聪明的伴侣就如“缓冲器”，可以延缓疾病发生。

By studying the health of identical twins, they concluded that a person’s environment can seriously affect their chance of developing dementia.

通过对同卵双胞胎健康状况的研究，他们得出结论认为，一个人所处的环境可以极大地影响患老年痴呆的几率。

娶个聪明老婆防痴呆

People who had physical signs of the disease showing up on their brain scans but developed no symptoms were generally ‘highly intelligent’ and ‘in high-powered jobs’ with ‘a lot of money in the bank,’ the scientists claimed.

科学家称，有的人的脑部扫描显示他们在生理上已经有痴呆症的迹象了，却没有表现出任何症状，这种人通常都“非常聪明”、“身居要职”、有“很多银行存款”。

During a talk called Dementia: How Can We Protect Ourselves?, Professor Lawrence Whalley, emeritus professor of mental health in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, said: ‘The thing a boy is never told he needs to do if he wants to live a longer life – but what he should do – is marry an intelligent woman. There is no better buffer than intelligence.’

在一个叫做“痴呆症：我们该怎样保护自己？”的谈话节目中，英国阿伯丁大学医学与生命科学学院精神健康方面的荣誉教授劳伦斯?沃利说：“想要长寿的话，男孩需要知道也该做的一件事，就是娶个聪明的老婆。只可惜没人告诉过他。没有什么延缓衰老的东西比高智商更有效。”

A series of studies have found that intellectual stimulation that keeps the brain active can help to stave off the symptoms of dementia.

一系列研究结果显示，智力的激发不仅可以保持大脑活力，还有助于延缓痴呆症发作。

Previous research has focused on the benefits of activities like doing crosswords, reading and visiting museums, but Professor Whalley’s comments suggest that having a partner who provides interesting and challenging conversation could also help prevent Alzheimer’s.

之前的研究主要集中在一些活动的益处上，比如填字游戏、阅读、逛博物馆，但沃利教授的话启示我们，拥有一个可以进行有趣且富有挑战性对话的伴侣，也有利于预防老年痴呆。

However the death of a family member when you are only a child can increase your chance of developing the disease 80 years on, the audience at the Oxford Literary Festival heard.

不过，听众们在牛津文化节上还听说，在孩提时代遭遇亲人死亡也会增加80岁时患痴呆症的几率。

Professor Whalley explained: ‘Studies have shown that the death of a mother before the age of five is a very important risk factor for dementia in later life.

沃利教授解释称：“研究表明，五岁之前母亲去世，老年患痴呆的风险更大。”

‘But positive parenting as a child, a longer time in education and a good childhood environment all have a huge buffering effect against dementia 70 or 80 years later.

“但童年时期得到良好的抚育，上学时间较长，和一个良好的成长环境，都可以起到巨大的缓冲作用，降低七八十年以后患痴呆症的几率。

‘Environmental factors in your childhood, such as your father’s job status, have an effect, as does your mother’s diet during pregnancy. Your childhood IQ, your job income, your educational attainments all have an effect in later life.’

“童年的环境因素，比如你父亲的职业地位，以及你母亲在怀孕时期的饮食，都会影响你今后的健康状况。你童年时的智商、工作后的收入和接受教育的水平都对日后的生活有影响。”

He added: ‘If you look at the kind of people who should have dementia but don’t show symptoms, they are highly intelligent people in high-powered jobs. They also have a lot of money in the bank.’

他还补充道：“如果你观察一下那些本应有痴呆症但没有表现出症状的人，就会发现他们都是身居要职的聪明人。他们在银行也有很多存款。”

He went on to point out that it becomes difficult to change your ‘trajectory’ past the age of 40, but that learning new skills, such as a language, can ‘give you a five-year buffer against dementia’. Changing your job between the age of 25 and 35 is also an effective way to ‘change your trajectory’, he claimed.

他继续指出，40岁以后就很难改变你的“轨道”了，但学习语言等新技能可以“给你五年的痴呆症缓冲期”。他还说，在25岁到35岁之间换工作也是“改变轨道”的一个有效方法。

Fellow speaker Professor Margaret Rayman, of the University of Surrey, highlighted the importance of diet and recommended over-50s take vitamin B12 supplements.

另一位主讲人、萨里大学的教授玛格丽特?雷曼，强调了饮食的重要性，建议50岁以上的人服用维生素B12补充剂。

Professor Rayman said people can have only 10g of chocolate and 100ml of red or white wine each day before it begins to have an ‘adverse effect’ on cognitive function.

雷曼教授还说，人们每天应该只吃10克巧克力、喝100毫升红葡萄酒或白葡萄酒，这样才能防止对认知功能产生“不利影响”。

Meanwhile, one serving of blueberries or two servings of strawberries a week will have a ‘positive effect’ on fighting cognitive decline, while eating vegetables that have been frozen while fresh can be better for your brain than those that have been languishing in the fridge.

与此同时，每周吃一次蓝莓或两次草莓，会对避免认知功能下降产生“积极作用”，而且对大脑健康来说，那些在新鲜时就被冷冻起来的蔬菜比那些在冰箱里枯萎的要好一些。

There are around 800,000 people in the UK with dementia. The number has been increasing because people are living longer. It is estimated that by 2021, the number of people with dementia in the UK will have increased to around a million.

英国目前大约有80万痴呆症患者。这一数字还在增长，因为人们的寿命越来越长。据估计，到2021年，英国的痴呆症患者将达到一百万左右。

Vocabulary

identical twins: 同卵双胞胎

stave off: 避开，延缓