研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，吃魚有助于保護(hù)衰老的大腦免受空氣污染

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，吃魚有助于保護(hù)衰老的大腦免受空氣污染

You may have purchased an air filter to put in your car or even an air purifier for your home. But what about something to put in your body to protect from air pollution?

你可能已經(jīng)買了一個空氣過濾器放在你的車?yán)?，甚至一個空氣凈化器在你的家里。但是有什么東西可以放進(jìn)你的身體來保護(hù)你不受空氣污染呢?

You can skip the hardware store and head straight to the grocery store for that, new research has suggested.

一項新的研究表明，你可以略過五金店，直接去雜貨店。

Eating more than one to two servings a week of fish or shellfish may allow older women to consume enoughomega-3 fatty acids to counteract the effects of air pollution on the brain, according to a study published today in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

根據(jù)美國神經(jīng)病學(xué)學(xué)會醫(yī)學(xué)雜志《神經(jīng)病學(xué)》今天發(fā)表的一項研究，每周食用一到兩次以上的魚類或貝類可以讓老年女性攝入足夠的omega-3脂肪酸，以抵消空氣污染對大腦的影響。

"Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to fight inflammation and maintain brain structure in aging brains. They have also been found to reduce brain damage caused by neurotoxins like lead and mercury," said study author Dr. Ka Kahe, a professor of epidemiology and obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University in New York, in a press release.

Omega -3脂肪酸已經(jīng)被證明可以對抗炎癥，維持衰老大腦中的大腦結(jié)構(gòu)。研究報告的作者、紐約哥倫比亞大學(xué)的流行病學(xué)和婦產(chǎn)科教授卡卡何博士在一份新聞稿中說：“他們還被發(fā)現(xiàn)可以減少鉛和汞等神經(jīng)毒素引起的腦損傷。

"So we explored if omega-3 fatty acids have a protective effect against another neurotoxin, the fine particulate matter found in air pollution."

“所以我們探索omega -3脂肪酸是否對另一種神經(jīng)毒素，即空氣污染中的細(xì)顆粒物有保護(hù)作用。”

Connections between food and brain health

食物和大腦健康之間的聯(lián)系

The study observed white women over 70 who live in areas with high air pollution levels. Those who had the lowest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood had the highest amount of brain shrinkage.

該研究觀察了居住在空氣污染嚴(yán)重地區(qū)的70歲以上的白人女性。那些血液中omega-3脂肪酸含量最低的人大腦萎縮程度最高。

To conduct the study, researchers calculated how much fish the women consumed on average each week, measured the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood and determined the women's three-year average exposure to air pollution based on their home addresses.

為了進(jìn)行這項研究，研究人員計算了這些婦女平均每周吃多少魚，測量了她們血液中omega-3脂肪酸的含量，并根據(jù)她們的家庭住址確定了她們?nèi)昶骄佑|空氣污染的情況。

Then they gave participants brain scans to measure the hippocampus area, which is the part of the brain associated with memory, and the white matter, which helps send signals throughout the brain.

然后，他們對參與者進(jìn)行腦部掃描，以測量海馬區(qū)和白質(zhì)。海馬區(qū)是大腦中與記憶有關(guān)的部分，而白質(zhì)則幫助在大腦中傳遞信號。

The benefits of omega-3s from fish consumption, the researchers found, may preserve volume of white matter and size of hippocampus as women age and possibly protect against the potential toxic effects of air pollution.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，食用魚類所含的omega-3脂肪酸可以在女性變老時保持白質(zhì)的體積和海馬體的大小，還可能保護(hù)她們免受空氣污染的潛在毒性影響。

The study's lead author Cheng Chen, a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, told CNN that more research is needed to see if these results can be generalized to the wider population.

該研究的第一作者，哥倫比亞大學(xué)歐文醫(yī)學(xué)中心的博士后研究員程晨告訴CNN，需要更多的研究來看看這些結(jié)果是否可以推廣到更廣泛的人群。

"Our study is one of many that provides helpful insights regarding a healthy lifestyle, like a healthy diet, to reduce the adverse impacts of air pollution," Chen said. "The general population still needs to follow the general recommendations of the government. But I can say a very small increase in omega-3s or fish intake can be beneficial for the populations in the study."

程說:“我們的研究為健康的生活方式，比如健康的飲食，減少空氣污染的負(fù)面影響，提供了很多有益的見解，我們的研究只是其中之一。”“普通大眾仍然需要遵循政府的一般建議。但我可以說，少量增加omega -3或魚類的攝入對研究對象是有益的。”

Chen said the research is part of a broader Women's Health Initiative Memory Study, which previously found that older women living in locations with higher levels of fine particles in the outdoor air had a smaller volume of white matter.

程說，這項研究是一項更廣泛的女性健康倡議記憶研究的一部分，此前該研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，居住在室外空氣中細(xì)顆粒含量較高的地方的老年女性，其白質(zhì)體積較小。

Brain volume loss and white matter loss occurs naturally in aging, but environmental toxins can compound the problem. That's because fine particulate matter emitted into the air is a neurotoxin -- bad news for the brain.

隨著年齡的增長，腦容量和白質(zhì)會自然減少，但環(huán)境中的毒素會加劇這個問題。這是因?yàn)榕欧诺娇諝庵械募?xì)顆粒物是一種神經(jīng)毒素，對大腦來說是個壞消息。

"The key with air pollution is that particles are so small they can be taken into the lungs," said neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson, an Alzheimer's specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical Center, who was not involved in the study.

紐約長老會醫(yī)院和威爾康奈爾醫(yī)學(xué)中心的阿爾茨海默癥專家、神經(jīng)學(xué)家理查德·艾薩克森博士說:“空氣污染的關(guān)鍵在于，顆粒物太小了，可以被吸入肺部。”艾薩克森博士沒有參與這項研究。

Isaacson explained that it's "not entirely clear why air pollution specifically impacts cognitive function," but previous studies have found that after entering the lungs, the toxins in air pollutants can be distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream.

艾薩克森解釋說，“目前還不完全清楚為什么空氣污染會影響認(rèn)知功能，”但之前的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，進(jìn)入肺部后，空氣污染物中的毒素會通過血液傳遍全身。