本周發(fā)表的一項由南加州的科學家負責的研究表明,居住在細顆粒物濃度較高地區(qū)——中國各地大氣污染中常見的那種——的老年女性患癡呆癥的風險可能要大得多,包括和阿爾茨海默氏癥有關的癡呆癥。
The study, led by researchers at the University of Southern California, found that older women who lived in areas where the fine particulate matter exceeded limits set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency had an 81 percent greater chance of general cognitive decline and were 92 percent more likely to develop dementia, according to a report of the research on the university’s website.
該研究由南加州大學(University of Southern California)的研究人員主持??窃谠摯髮W網(wǎng)站上的一份研究報告稱,這項研究發(fā)現(xiàn),所居住地區(qū)的細顆粒物超過美國環(huán)境保護局(Environmental Protection Agency)設定上限的老年女性一般認知功能下降和患癡呆癥的可能性分別高出81%和92%。
The study says air pollution could be responsible for up to 21 percent of dementia cases, if the findings translate to the general population, the report said.
該報告稱,研究認為如果研究結果適用于普通人群,大氣污染可能要為高達21%的癡呆癥病例負責。
The paper was published Tuesday in Translational Psychiatry, a Nature journal.
研究論文周二發(fā)表在《自然》(Nature)旗下的期刊《轉化精神病學》(Translational Psychiatry)上。
The fine particulate matter is PM 2.5, which is 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter. It embeds deep in the lungs and penetrates into the bloodstream. It is the most damaging element of toxic air in China, which has some of the world’s most polluted cities. Most of China’s PM 2.5 comes from coal-fired plants, but a significant portion is generated by vehicles.
這種細顆粒物是PM 2.5,即直徑不大于2.5微米的顆粒物。它能夠深入肺部,并進入血液。它是中國有毒空氣中危害最大的成分,這里有全球污染最為嚴重的城市。中國的PM 2.5大部分來自燃煤電廠,但車輛產生的PM 2.5也占很大比例。
The study is especially relevant to China in other ways. China has one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing populations of older adults. Ten percent of its 1.4 billion people are 65 years old or older, according to statistics from the World Bank.
這項研究和中國的相關性特別大還體現(xiàn)在其他方面。中國的老齡人口規(guī)模和增長速度在全球名列前茅。根據(jù)世界銀行(World Bank)的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù),中國14億人口中,65歲及以上者占10%。
The report on the University of Southern California website said PM 2.5 enters the body through the nose and can then embed in the brain.
南加州大學網(wǎng)站上的這份報告稱,PM 2.5會通過鼻子進入人體,并且可能會進入大腦。
“Cells in the brain treat these particles as invaders and react with inflammatory responses, which over the course of time, appear to exacerbate and promote Alzheimer’s disease,” said Prof. Caleb Finch, one of the authors of the study, according to the report. Professor Finch works at the U.S.C. Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
報告稱,該研究論文的作者之一凱萊布·芬奇(Caleb Finch)博士表示,“大腦中的細胞會把這些顆粒物當作入侵者,做出炎癥反應。隨著時間的推移,炎癥反應似乎會惡化,并促使阿爾茨海默氏癥的發(fā)展。”芬奇博士任職于南加州大學萊昂納德·戴維斯老年醫(yī)學學院(U.S.C. Leonard Davis School of Gerontology)。
“Although the link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease is a new scientific frontier, we now have evidence that air pollution, like tobacco, is dangerous to the aging brain,” he added.
“盡管空氣污染和阿爾茨海默氏癥之間的聯(lián)系是一個新的科學前沿領域,但我們現(xiàn)在有證據(jù)證明,空氣污染就像煙草一樣,對不斷老化的大腦有害,”他補充說。
Women with the genetic variant APOE4, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, were more likely to be affected by high levels of air pollution.
基因變異APOE4會增加患阿爾茨海默氏癥的風險,攜帶該基因變異的女性受嚴重空氣污染影響的可能性更高。
A growing number of studies look at the long-term health effects of air pollution. Research done in the 1990s in Los Angeles and published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that children can suffer permanent lung damage from prolonged exposure to high levels of air pollution.
關注空氣污染對健康長期影響的研究越來越多。90年代在洛杉磯進行并發(fā)表在了《新英格蘭醫(yī)學雜志》(New England Journal of Medicine)上的研究表明,長期暴露在嚴重空氣污染環(huán)境下的兒童可能會受到永久性的肺部損傷。
Columbia University researchers found that prenatal exposure to air pollution could result in children with greater anxiety, depression and attention-span disorders.
哥倫比亞大學(Columbia University)的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),產前暴露在空氣污染環(huán)境下的產婦生下的孩子可能會出現(xiàn)更嚴重的焦慮、抑郁和注意力障礙。
In February 2016, a group of scientists from the United States, Canada, China and India said they had found that air pollution caused more than 5.5 million premature deaths in 2013. Of those, 1.6 million were in China and 1.4 million in India.
2016年2月,來自美國、加拿大、中國和印度的一批科學家稱他們發(fā)現(xiàn)2013年,空氣污染導致逾550萬人過早死亡。當然,中國和印度分別占160萬和140萬。
Among Chinese, awareness of toxic air has soared. Years ago, some prominent Chinese internet personalities began publishing on their microblogs the PM 2.5 concentrations in Beijing that were being reported in real-time by a United States Embassy Twitter account. The attention generated by those posts and a particularly severe bout of toxic air in January 2013 compelled senior Communist Party officials to allow state news organizations to publish many more stories on air pollution.
中國民眾對有毒空氣的意識急劇增強。數(shù)年前,中國的一些網(wǎng)絡名人就開始在自己的微博上公布北京的PM 2.5濃度。相關數(shù)據(jù)由美國大使館(United States Embassy)的Twitter賬號實時通報。那些帖子引發(fā)的關注和2013年1月爆發(fā)的一次特別嚴重的空氣污染,迫使共產黨高級官員允許官方新聞機構發(fā)表更多有關空氣污染的報道。