強(qiáng)烈的嗅覺可能有利于長壽

強(qiáng)烈的嗅覺可能有利于長壽

Older adults with a poor sense of smell may die sooner than those who have a better sense of smell, a new study suggests.

一項新的研究表明，嗅覺差的老年人可能比嗅覺好的老年人更早死亡。

The study was a project of researchers in the United States that was ongoing for over 13 years. They asked nearly 2,300 men and women to identify 12 common smells. All the subjects were from 71 to 82 years of age.

這項研究是美國研究人員的一個項目，已經(jīng)持續(xù)了13年。他們測試了將近2300名男性和女性，讓他們識別12種常見的氣味。所有受試者均為71-82歲之間。

The researchers gave the adults scores, from zero to as high as 12, based on how many smells they identified correctly.

研究人員根據(jù)他們正確識別的氣味數(shù)量，給出了成年人分?jǐn)?shù)，從零到最高12分。

During 13 years of follow-up investigation, over 1,200 of the subjects died.

在13年的后續(xù)調(diào)查中，超過1200名受試者死亡。

When the study was launched, none of the adults were weak. They could walk a little under half a kilometer, climb 10 steps and independently complete daily activities.

當(dāng)這項研究開始的時候，沒有一個受試者是虛弱的。他們可以步行不到半公里，爬10層樓，獨立完成日?；顒?。

In the latest findings, the researchers noted that those with a weak nose were 30 percent more likely to die by year 13 than people with a good sense of smell. The findings were reported last month in the scientific publication Annals of Internal Medicine.

在最新的發(fā)現(xiàn)中，研究人員注意到，13年間，那些嗅覺較弱的人比嗅覺良好的人死亡的可能性高出30%。這項發(fā)現(xiàn)在上個月發(fā)表在科學(xué)刊物“內(nèi)科學(xué)年鑒”上。

Honglei Chen was the lead writer of a report on the study. He is a doctor with Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

陳洪磊是這項研究報告的主要作者，他是密歇根州東蘭辛密歇根州立大學(xué)的一名醫(yī)生。

Chen said the connection between a poor sense of smell and an increased risk of dying was limited to adults who first reported good-to-excellent health. This suggests that a poor sense of smell is an early and sensitive sign for worsening health before it is recognizable in medical tests.

陳說，嗅覺差和死亡風(fēng)險增加之間的聯(lián)系僅限于那些在首次報告中健康狀況良好的成年人。這表明，在醫(yī)學(xué)測試識別出來之前，嗅覺不佳是健康惡化的早期敏感跡象。

“Poor sense of smell is likely an important health marker in older adults beyond what we have already known about,” noted Chen. He was talking about links to memory loss through dementia, Parkinson’s disease, a poor diet and safety risks.

陳說：“嗅覺不良很可能是老年人健康的一個重要標(biāo)志，這超出了我們已經(jīng)知道的范圍。”他說的是與癡呆、帕金森病、不良飲食和安全風(fēng)險有關(guān)的記憶喪失。

People who started out the study in excellent or good health were 62 percent more likely to die by year 10 if they had a poor sense of smell, his team reported. But smell did not appear to make a meaningful difference in death rates for people who were in fair to poor health at the start of the study.

他的研究小組報告說，以優(yōu)秀或良好的身體狀況開始這項研究的人，如果嗅覺不好的話，在10年內(nèi)死亡的可能性要高出62%。但是嗅覺似乎并沒有對那些在研究開始時身體狀況不佳的人的死亡率產(chǎn)生有意義的影響。

With a poor sense of smell, people were more likely to die of brain and heart diseases, but not of cancer or breathing disorders.

嗅覺不好的話，人們更有可能死于大腦和心臟疾病，而不是癌癥或呼吸紊亂。

The results also suggest that a poor sense of smell may be an early warning for poor health in older age that goes beyond dementia or other neurodegenerative diseases. These often signal the beginning of a weakening of the mind or body.

研究結(jié)果還表明，嗅覺不良可能是老年人健康狀況不佳的早期預(yù)警，而不僅僅是癡呆癥或其他神經(jīng)退行性疾病的預(yù)警，這些通常都是精神或身體衰弱開始的信號。

Dementia and Parkinson’s disease explained only 22 percent of the higher death risk tied to a poor sense of smell. Weight loss explained just six percent of this connection, researchers estimated. That leaves more than 70 percent of the higher mortality rates tied to a weak nose unexplained.

癡呆癥和帕金森氏癥只解釋了22%的高死亡風(fēng)險與嗅覺不良有關(guān)。研究人員估計，減肥因素只占其中的6%。剩下超過70%的高死亡率與嗅覺不良之間的關(guān)系暫時無法解釋。

The connection between a poor sense of smell and mortality risk did not appear to change based on sex or race. It also did not change based on individuals’ other qualities, such as the way they live or ongoing health conditions.

嗅覺差與死亡風(fēng)險之間的聯(lián)系似乎沒有因性別或種族而改變，它也沒有因個人的其他素質(zhì)而改變，例如他們的生活方式或持續(xù)的健康狀況。

One limitation of the study is that the older adults were relatively active. This makes it possible that results might be different for younger people or for individuals who are weak, the study noted.

研究的一個局限性是老年人相對活躍。研究指出，這使得年輕人和身體虛弱的人的結(jié)果可能有所不同。

Researchers also only tested smell at one point in time. They did not look at whether changes in subjects’ ability to smell over time might influence mortality. Researchers also lacked information about medical causes of a weak sense of smell.

研究人員也只在某一時刻測試了嗅覺，他們沒有研究隨著時間推移，受試者嗅覺能力的變化是否會影響死亡率，研究人員也缺乏關(guān)于導(dǎo)致嗅覺微弱的醫(yī)學(xué)原因方面的信息。

Annals of Internal Medicine published an editorial with the report.

“內(nèi)科年鑒”發(fā)表了這篇報告的社論。

In it, Vidyulata Kamath noted that as people age, they may not know their sense of smell is worsening. For that reason, doctors may want to test the sense of smell in older patients who are at risk of disease or injury.

在社論中，Vidyulata Kamath指出，隨著人們年齡的增長，他們可能不知道自己的嗅覺正在惡化。由于這個原因，醫(yī)生們可能想要測試那些有疾病或受傷風(fēng)險的老年患者的嗅覺。

Kamath is with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Kamath是巴爾的摩約翰霍普金斯大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院的工作人員。

“The take-home message is that a loss in the sense of smell may serve as a bellwether for declining health,” Kamath wrote.

Kamath寫道：“得到的信息是，嗅覺上的損失可能會成為健康狀況下降的領(lǐng)頭羊。”

I’m Pete Musto.

皮特·穆斯托報道。

Words in This Story

score(s) – n. the number of points that someone gets for correct answers on a test or exam

beyond – prep. more than something

neurodegenerative – adj. causing the brain or nerves to become weaker or less able to function as time passes

mortality – n. the death of a person or animal

bellwether – n. someone or something that leads others or shows what will happen in the future