考研英語時文賞讀（101）：藥吃多了容易得老年癡呆？

　　Risk for Dementia May Increase With Long-Term Use of Certain Medicines

　　長期服用某些藥物可能會增加患老年癡呆癥的風險

　　Can certain medications increase your risk of dementia? A new study suggests that people who take a class of common medicines called anticholinergic drugs for several years may be more likely to develop dementia as they age.

　　某些藥物會增加患老年癡呆癥的風險嗎?一項新的研究表明，隨著年齡的增長，長年服用抗膽堿能藥物的人更有可能患老年癡呆癥。

　　This is not a new hypothesis about these drugs, which are used to treat a wide range of conditions from depression to epilepsy to incontinence.

　　抗膽堿能藥物常被用于治療抑郁癥、癲癇和失禁等各類疾病，此次研究并不是針對這類藥物進行的新假設。

　　But the study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, is large, and it analyzed the use of the medications in more detail and over a longer period of time than many previous studies.

　　但發(fā)表于《美國醫(yī)學會內科雜志》上的這項研究有著很大的規(guī)模，它比之前的許多研究更詳細、更長期地研究了這類藥物的使用情況。

　　Anticholinergic drugs include the antipsychotic clozapine; the bladder drug darifenacin; the anti-nausea drug scopolamine; the bronchodilator ipratropium; the muscle relaxant tizanidine; antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, and antidepressants such as paroxetine.

　　抗膽堿能藥物包括抗精神病藥物氯氮平、膀胱藥物達非那星、止吐藥東莨菪堿、支氣管擴張劑異丙托銨、肌肉松弛劑替扎尼定、抗組胺藥物苯海拉明、以及抗抑郁藥物帕羅西汀等。

　　These medications work by blocking a chemical called acetylcholine, which acts as a neurotransmitter and is involved in many nervous system functions including muscle movements, heart rate, the widening of blood vessels, respiratory functions and muscle contractions in the stomach during digestion.

　　這類藥物通過抑制化學物質乙酰膽堿而發(fā)揮作用，作為一種神經遞質的乙酰膽堿在人體消化過程中參與了許多神經系統(tǒng)功能，包括肌肉運動、心率、血管擴張、呼吸功能和胃部肌肉收縮等。

　　Older adults are more likely to be prescribed many of these medications, simply because they tend to have more health issues. Some experts say that because people produce less acetylcholine as they age, drugs that inhibit that neurochemical can have a stronger effect on older people.

　　老年人更有可能被醫(yī)生開具這類藥物，往往只是因為他們的身體存在更多的健康問題。一些專家說，隨著年齡的增長，人體合成的乙酰膽堿越來越少，因此抑制這種神經遞質的藥物對老年人的影響可能更大。

　　It's possible, but not proven, that some anticholinergic drugs increase the risk of dementia. If you need long-term treatment for one of the relevant medical conditions, talk to your doctor about other medication options that are not in the anticholinergic class, such as antidepressants like Celexa and Prozac. In many cases, there may be choices.

　　一些抗膽堿能藥物可能會增加患老年癡呆癥的風險，但這一結論尚未得到證實。如果你需要長期服用這類藥物中的一種以治療疾病，那么你應該和你的醫(yī)生談談其他不含抗膽堿能類藥物的治療方案，比如抗抑郁藥用西酞普蘭和百憂解等藥物替代。在許多情況下，也許有其他的選擇。

　　(全文共280個詞，紐約時報)

　　重難點詞匯：

　　incontinence  n. 失禁；無節(jié)制；不能自制

　　function  n. 功能；函數(shù)；職責 vi. 運行；活動；行使職責

　　respiratory  adj. 呼吸的

　　prescribe  vi./vt. 規(guī)定；開處方

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