VOA标准英语2010年-No Proof Lifestyle Changes Can Prevent

Researchers find no strong evidence that lifestyle changes - like diet, exercise and stimulating¹ the brain - make a big difference in preventing cognitive² decline in older people.

A new study has failed to find any conclusive³ evidence that lifestyle changes can prevent cognitive decline in older adults. 

But researchers say there are still good reasons to make positive changes in how we live and what we eat as we age.

Cognitive decline is the loss of ability to learn new skills, or recall words, names, and faces that is most common as we age. To reduce or avoid it, researchers have examined the effect of smoking, diet, brain-challenging games, exercise and other strategies.

Researchers at Duke University sifted⁴ through more than 160 published studies and found an absence of strong evidence that any of these approaches can make a big difference.

"In the observational studies we found that some of the B vitamins, like folic acid, were beneficial." said co-author James Burke, who helped design the study. "Exercise, diet, cognitive stimulation⁵ showed some positive effects, although the evidence was not so strong that we could actually consider these firmly established."

Some previous studies have suggested that challenging your brain with mentally stimulating activities might help. Burke said that actually does seem to help, based on randomized studies - the researcher's gold standard.

"Cognitive stimulation is one of the areas where we did find some benefit. The exact type of stimulation that an individual uses is not as important as being intellectually engaged," Burke said.

The expert review also found insufficient⁶ evidence to recommend any drugs or dietary supplements that could prevent or slow cognitive decline.

However, given that there is at least some evidence for positive effects from some of these lifestyle changes, plus other benefits apparently⁷ unrelated to cognitive decline, Burke offered some recommendations.

"I think that by having people adopt a healthy lifestyle, both from a medical standpoint as well as nutritional⁸ and cognitive stimulation standpoint, that we can reduce the incidence of cognitive decline, which will be proof that these factors are, in fact, important."

James Burke of Duke University is one of the authors of a study reviewing previous research on cognitive decline. The paper is published online by the Annals of Internal Medicine.

 

1 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

2 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

3 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

4 sifted   

v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

6 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。