VOA标准英语2009年-Research Ties Adult Ailments to Childh

Psychologists have known for decades that unpleasant childhood experiences can affect a person's mental health for a lifetime.  But new research suggests childhood traumas¹ might also have long term effects on physical health.

Dunedin study began in the 1970s

Researchers have been following the physical development and health of about a thousand New Zealanders since they were born in the early 1970s.  This ongoing² research, called the Dunedin study, after the southern New Zealand town where many of the subjects were born, has provided clues to understanding how childhood health affects the physiological³ health of the subjects who are now in their early thirties.

Avshalom Caspi, a researcher at Duke University, recently examined data from these subjects looking at how childhood hardships, such as abuse, violence, poverty and isolation⁴ might have lasting⁵ health consequences for the subjects as young adults.

"What we are looking at here, in particular, is whether or not childhood stress is not only related to something like depression, but does it also affect various metabolic⁶ conditions. Is it registered in the neuro-endocrine system?"

New insight on the genesis of adult health risks

Caspi and his colleagues found that these people had more risk factors for chronic⁷ diseases such as diabetes⁸ and heart disease than their peers who did not experience psychological hardship as children.  Caspi says the risk factors he found are the kinds of things typically found in older people.  These include elevated blood pressure, high blood cholesterol⁹ and being overweight.

Caspi says this research begins to confirm the long-held suspicion that poor adult health actually may be created by the conditions experienced in childhood and not just the physical problems of childhood, but the psychological ones, too.  And he says this knowledge may change the way doctors look at treating the diseases of adulthood¹⁰.

"Intervention¹¹ efforts to improve health often concentrate on lifestyles in adulthood; get people to stop smoking, get people to exercise more. But one of the things that we are also learning is that a lot of the risks for adult poor health may already be laid down early on in life," Caspi says.

He adds that if society wants to improve people's health in middle and old age, perhaps decision-makers need to concentrate more on ways to improve the health and well-being¹² of children.

Caspi's research is published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

 

1 traumas   

n.心灵创伤( trauma的名词复数 )；损伤；痛苦经历；挫折

参考例句：

• She felt exhausted after the traumas of recent weeks. 她经受了最近几个星期的痛苦之后感到精疲力竭。
• Conclusion: Safety lens of spectacles can protect the occurrence of ocular traumas. 结论：安全镜片可以预防眼镜碎片所致的眼外伤。 来自互联网

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

4 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

5 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

6 metabolic   

adj.新陈代谢的

参考例句：

• Impressive metabolic alternations have been undergone during embryogenesis.在胚胎发生期间经历了深刻的代谢变化。
• A number of intoxicants are associated with metabolic acidosis.许多毒性物质可引起代谢性酸中毒。

7 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

8 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。

9 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

10 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

11 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

12 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。