英伦广角 中年糖尿病预防有助于防止大脑老化（在线收听）

Want to ward off memory issues and other cognitive problems as you age? Looks like low blood glucose levels are an important factor. New research finds that individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in middle age had greater cognitive impairment in the following decades than their nondiabetic counterparts.

想要避免随着年龄增加带来的记忆力问题和其它认知问题?貌似较低的血糖水平是一个重要因素。新的研究发现，中年被诊断为2型糖尿病的人跟那些非糖尿病患者相比，在之后的几十年或会遭遇更大的认知障碍。

\In fact, poorly managed diabetes appears to age the brain roughly five years faster than normal. That means a 55-year-old with diabetes has cognitive decline on par with a healthy 60-year-old. And the problems accumulate: over 20 years, diabetes in midlife is associated with a 19 percent decrease in mental function. Cognitive decline is considered a precursor to dementia. The findings are in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

事实上护理不善的糖尿病人群，其大脑似乎比正常人衰老速度大致要快5年。这意味着一个55岁的糖尿病患者认知标准下降到了一个60岁健康人士的水平。而该问题累积到超过20年后，中年糖尿病患者的心智功能就会下降19%。认知能力下降被认为是老年痴呆的前兆。该发现出自《内科医学年鉴》。

A team from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health followed some 6,000 study subjects in Maryland, North Carolina, Minnesota and Mississippi from 1987 through 2013. The researchers used accepted tests to evaluate the participants’ cognitive performance. And the people with low blood sugar levels outperformed those with midlife diabetes or pre-diabetes.

约翰霍普斯金大学公共卫生学院的一组研究人员，从1987年至2013年跟踪研究了来自马里兰州、北卡莱罗纳州、明尼苏达州和密西西比州的6千名研究对象。研究人员运用接受测试来评估研究对象的认知表现。那些血糖水平较低的人表现优于中年糖尿病患者或处于糖尿病前期的人群。

The researchers’ conclusion: better weight control, exercise and a healthful diet could really help keep both body—and mind—fit over the long haul.

研究人员得出结论：长远来看，较好的控制体重、注重运动及饮食健康真的有利于保持身心双重健康。