2006年VOA标准英语-Elderly Life Expectancy Linked to Daily Physica

By David McAlary
Washington
11 July 2006

Former dancer Ann Smith leads a stretch class at Munson Community Health Clinic in Traverse City   
  
New medical research shows that elderly people can prolong their lives without vigorous exercise.  The study of people in their seventies and early eighties shows that consistent performance of usual daily activities such as stair climbing is associated with a much lower risk of death.

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Naomi Glass, 75, is retired¹, but that does not mean she is inactive.

"I never have a day where I have to think about how I am going to fill it," she said.  "It is always filled with something or other."

Between her housework and her busy schedule volunteering with various organizations, Naomi is often in motion.  A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says she may be prolonging her life.  It shows that the more active an elderly person is, the longer he or she may live.

"The thing about this study is, we measured usual daily activity and not traditional exercise," said Dr. Todd Manini at the National Institute on Aging near Washington. 

Dr. Manini and his colleagues collaborated² with researchers at several other institutions across the United States to look at about 300 adults aged³ 70 to 82 who lived independently.  They wanted to see if their typical daily energy use was related to longer life.

Dr. Manini says the researchers gauged⁴ energy expenditure⁵ by measuring how much carbon dioxide the study participants expelled.

"The first thing you need to know is that anytime we use energy, it is released from the body as carbon dioxide," he explained.

Manini's team gave the elderly men and women special water to drink.  This made it possible to measure carbon dioxide in their urine.

"We found that over an eight-year period, that older adults in the low activity group had three times greater risk of death when compared to older adults in the high-activity group," he added.

People in the high-activity group tended to climb two more flights of stairs a day than those in the low-activity group.  They were also more likely to work for pay versus⁶ volunteering or not working at all.  Manini sums it up this way.

"The message here is that for older adults, any movement is better than no movement, and that this can come from usual daily activities," he said.

An editorial accompanying the study notes that higher levels of activity do appear to protect health.  But the writers, exercise physiologists⁷ Steven Blair of the Cooper Institute in Texas and William Haskell of Stanford University in California, say the Manini study's unique measurement of carbon dioxide expenditure does not document the intensity⁸ of the elderly people's activity.

They argue that the study's conclusions must be verified by more research.  Blair and Cooper say if they are, they could have a major implications for exercise recommendations.

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 gauged   

adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• He picked up the calipers and gauged carefully. 他拿起卡钳仔细测量。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Distance is gauged by journey time rather than miles. 距离以行程时间而非英里数来计算。 来自辞典例句

5 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。

6 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

7 physiologists   

n.生理学者( physiologist的名词复数 )；生理学( physiology的名词复数 )；生理机能

参考例句：

• Quite unexpectedly, vertebrate physiologists and microbial biochemists had found a common ground. 出乎意外，脊椎动物生理学家和微生物生化学家找到了共同阵地。 来自辞典例句
• Physiologists are interested in the workings of the human body. 生理学家对人体的功能感兴趣。 来自辞典例句

8 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。