VOA标准英语2009-Fat Producing Hormone May Lower Risk of Type

By Melinda Smith
Washington
14 November 2009

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at least 180 million people have diabetes¹. Roughly 90 percent have what's called Type Two diabetes, caused by the body's ineffective use of insulin. Researchers have focused in recent years on a hormone² derived³ from fat cells, called adiponectin, which is shown to lower the risk of diabetes. Scientists now hope this could improve the treatment of diabetes or even prevent it altogether.

 
A nurse administers a blood test for patient
You can blame it on the food that is too high in fat and sugar, or you can blame it on a lack of exercise, or both. But according to the World Health Organization, hundreds of millions of people around the world are gaining weight, and the fatter they get, the greater their risk of diabetes.

Obesity⁴ and physical inactivity are common conditions associated with Type Two diabetes. The WHO projects that 330 million to 360 million people will be diagnosed as diabetics by the year 2030.

Doctors have preached diet and exercise to patients for decades. Now researchers have noticed that high levels of one fat-producing hormone is not such a bad thing, after all.

Rob van Dam is with the Harvard School of Public Health.

 
Rob van Dam, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health
"The fat that you have on your body, we thought that it's just sitting there, not doing much," he said. "But it's secreting⁵ all kinds of signaling molecules⁶ of which adiponectin seems to be an important one."

Scientists have known about the fat-producing hormone adiponectin for some time. But van Dam and his colleagues at Harvard have looked at studies of at least 14,000 patients and confirmed something interesting: They are not sure why, but patients with a lower risk of Type Two diabetes seem to have higher levels of adiponectin.

"It actually has beneficial effects on the liver and on muscles and it increases insulin sensitivity, it seems, and it reduces inflammation," he added.

Van Dam says the link between adiponectin and a lower risk of the disease is consistent, regardless of an individual's body mass index, gender⁷ or race. That, he says, raises hope for screening and further treatment involving adiponectin, or in prevention of the disease itself.

"It's an interesting finding because we know that certain ethnic⁸ groups, certain racial groups seem to be more sensitive to develop[ing] Type Two diabetes," he explained.

The research appeared recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

1 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

2 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

3 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

5 secreting   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的现在分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• It is also an endocrine gland secreting at least two important hormones. 它也是一种内分泌腺，至少分泌二种重要的激素。 来自辞典例句
• And some calcite-secreting organisms also add magnesium to the mix. 有些分泌方解石的生物，会在分泌物中加入镁。 来自互联网

6 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。