第1自然段

Elderly people are growing healthier, happier and more independent, say American scientists. The results of a 14-year study to be announced later this month reveal that the diseases associated with old age are afflicting fewer and fewer people and when they do strike, it is much later in life.

美国科学家表示，老年人健康、快乐和独立性增强。一项为期14年的研究结果将于本月晚些时候公布，结果显示与老年相关的疾病影响的人越来越少，而且当它们确实发生时，发生的时间也更晚。

第2自然段

In the last 14 years, the National Long-term Health Care Survey has gathered data on the health and lifestyles of more than 20,000 men and women over 65. Researchers, now analysing the results of data gathered in 1994, say arthritis, high blood pressure and circulation problems – the major medical complaints in this age group – are troubling a smaller proportion every year. And the data confirms that the rate at which these diseases are declining continues to accelerate. Other diseases of old age – dementia, stroke, arteriosclerosis and emphysema – are also troubling fewer and fewer people.

在过去的14年里，美国长期卫生保健调查收集了2万多名65岁以上男女的健康和生活方式数据。研究人员正在分析1994年收集的数据，他们表示，关节炎、高血压和循环问题等是这个年龄段主要的医疗问题，但每年受到困扰的人所占比例越来越小。数据还证实了这些疾病下降的速度继续加快。其他老年疾病，如痴呆、中风、动脉硬化和肺气肿也越来越少地困扰着人们。

第3自然段

‘It really raises the question of what should be considered normal ageing,’ says Kenneth Manton, a demographer from Duke University in North Carolina. He says the problems doctors accepted as normal in a 65-year-old in 1982 are often not appearing until people are 70 or 75.

杜克大学人口学家肯尼斯·曼顿说：“这真的引发了什么应该被认为是正常老化的问题。”他说医生在1982年认为65岁的人所接受的问题现在通常出现在人们70或75岁时。

第4自然段

Clearly, certain diseases are beating a retreat in the face of medical advances. But there may be other contributing factors. Improvements in childhood nutrition in the first quarter of the twentieth century, for example, gave today’s elderly people a better start in life than their predecessors.

很明显，某些疾病在医学进步面前正在退潮。但也可能有其他因素起到了促进作用。例如，20世纪第一季度儿童营养的改善为今天的老年人提供了比他们的前辈更好的生活起点。

第5自然段

On the downside, the data also reveals failures in public health that have caused surges in some illnesses. An increase in some cancers and bronchitis may reflect changing smoking habits and poorer air quality, say the researchers. ‘These may be subtle influences,’ says Manton, ‘but our subjects have been exposed to worse and worse pollution for over 60 years. It’s not surprising we see some effect.’

不幸的是，数据还显示公共卫生方面存在的失败导致了某些疾病的激增。研究人员表示，某些癌症和支气管炎的增加可能反映了吸烟习惯的改变和空气质量的恶化。曼顿说：“这些可能是微妙的影响，但我们的受试者已经暴露在60多年来越来越严重的污染中，我们看到一些影响并不奇怪。”

第6自然段

One interesting correlation Manton uncovered is that better-educated people are likely to live longer. For example, 65-year-old women with fewer than eight years of schooling are expected, on average, to live to 82. Those who continued their education live an extra seven years. Although some of this can be attributed to a higher income, Manton believes it is mainly because educated people seek more medical attention.

曼顿发现一个有趣的相关性是受教育程度高的人更有可能活得更长。例如，受过少于八年学校教育的65岁女性预计平均寿命为82岁，而继续接受教育的人多活七年。尽管其中一部分原因可以归因于更高的收入，但曼顿认为主要原因是受教育的人寻求更多的医疗关注。

第7自然段

The survey also assessed how independent people over 65 were, and again found a striking trend. Almost 80% of those in the 1994 survey could complete everyday activities ranging from eating and dressing unaided to complex tasks such as cooking and managing their finances. That represents a significant drop in the number of disabled old people in the population. If the trends apparent in the United States 14 years ago had continued, researchers calculate there would be an additional one million disabled elderly people in today’s population. According to Manton, slowing the trend has saved the United States government’s Medicare system more than $200 billion, suggesting that the greying of America’s population may prove less of a financial burden than expected.

调查还评估了65岁以上老年人的自立程度，并再次发现了一个引人注目的趋势。在1994年的调查中，近80%的人可以完成从进食、穿衣到烹饪和管理财务等各种日常活动，这代表残疾老年人的数量在人口中有显著下降。如果美国14年前的趋势继续下去，研究人员计算得出，在今天的人口中会有额外的一百万名残疾老年人。据曼顿称，减缓这一趋势为美国政府的医疗保险系统节省了超过2000亿美元，这表明美国人口老龄化可能比预期的财务负担要小。

第8自然段

The increasing self-reliance of many elderly people is probably linked to a massive increase in the use of simple home medical aids. For instance, the use of raised toilet seats has more than doubled since the start of the study, and the use of bath seats has grown by more than 50%. These developments also bring some health benefits, according to a report from the MacArthur Foundation’s research group on successful ageing. The group found that those elderly people who were able to retain a sense of independence were more likely to stay healthy in old age.

许多老年人日益独立可能与简单家庭医疗辅助设备的大量使用有关。例如，从研究开始以来，提高的马桶座的使用量增加了一倍以上，浴椅的使用量增长了50%以上。麦克阿瑟基金会关于成功老龄化的研究小组的一份报告还指出，能够保持独立意识的老年人更有可能在老年时保持健康。

第9自然段

Maintaining a level of daily physical activity may help mental functioning, says Carl Cotman, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine. He found that rats that exercise on a treadmill have raised levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor coursing through their brains. Cotman believes this hormone, which keeps neurons functioning, may prevent the brains of active humans from deteriorating.

加利福尼亚大学尔湾分校的神经科学家卡尔·科特曼说，保持日常体力活动水平可能有助于脑功能。他发现在跑步机上锻炼的老鼠大脑中神经营养因子水平增高。科特曼认为，这种保持神经元正常功能的激素可能防止了积极活动的人脑部衰退。

第10自然段

As part of the same study, Teresa Seeman, a social epidemiologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, found a connection between self-esteem and stress in people over 70. In laboratory simulations of challenging activities such as driving, those who felt in control of their lives pumped out lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Chronically high levels of these hormones have been linked to heart disease.

作为同一项研究的一部分，南加州大学社会流行病学家特丽莎·西曼在70岁以上的人群中发现了自尊和压力之间的联系。在模拟驾驶等具有挑战性活动的实验中，那些觉得掌控自己生活的人分泌出较低水平的压力激素，如皮质醇。长期高水平的这些激素与心脏病有关。

第11自然段

But independence can have drawbacks. Seeman found that elderly people who felt emotionally isolated maintained higher levels of stress hormones even when asleep. The research suggests that older people fare best when they feel independent but know they can get help when they need it.

但独立也可能存在一些缺点。西曼发现，情感孤立的老年人甚至在睡眠时仍保持较高水平的压力激素。研究表明，老年人在感到独立的同时，知道他们在需要时可以得到帮助时表现最好。

第12自然段

‘Like much research into ageing, these results support common sense,’ says Seeman. They also show that we may be underestimating the impact of these simple factors. ‘The sort of thing that your grandmother always told you turns out to be right on target,’ she says.