健康
睡眠越来越浅，这是疾病的前兆吗？
2019-02-18
今日导读
古人有云：“不觅仙方觅睡方......睡足而起，神清气爽，真不啻无际真人。”可见睡觉是重要的养生手段。好的睡眠会让人精神焕发，相反，睡眠不足会让人困顿疲乏。然而随着年龄的增长，睡个好觉变得越来越困难。对此，很多人感到了焦虑，认为睡眠时间变短，质量变差是造成身体每况愈下的原因。然而事实真是这样吗？一起学习《华盛顿邮报》的新闻，一起用全新的视角探究睡眠和健康的关系。
带着问题听讲解
Q1: 随着年龄的增长，睡眠模式会产生哪些变化？
Q2: 如何用英文表达“抑郁”和“焦虑”？
Q3: “document”在做名词时是什么意思，在做动词时呢？
新闻正文
Your bedtime pattern changes as your age, but is that a sign of trouble?
你的睡眠模式随着年龄而改变，但这是疾病的信号吗？
As people age, the body changes in all sorts of predictable ways. Joints stiffen. Brains can slow. Wounds take longer to heal. And sleep patterns shift, too. This can come as news to many, says Michael V. Vitiello, a psychologist at the University of Washington who specializes in sleep in aging.
随着人老去，身体也以各种各样可以预见的方式发生着变化。关节变得僵直，大脑可能会变得迟钝，伤口需要越来越长的时间才能恢复，而睡眠模式也在转变。这对于许多人来说可能是新闻，迈克尔·V·维蒂耶洛如此说道，他是一位来自华盛顿大学的心理学家，专门研究衰老过程中的睡眠情况。
The most noticeable—and often most aggravating—changes are how sleep and wake-up times change and sleep gets lighter, often beginning in middle age. Gone are weekend snoozes to 11 a.m. and the ability to sleep through a noisy garbage truck down the block.
这其中最为显著，也常常是最为恼人的变化是入睡与醒来时间的改变和睡眠变浅，而这些变化往往从中年开始发生。周末一觉睡到 11 点的时光一去不复返，在对街的垃圾车发出的噪音中依然能酣睡的能力也成为过去。
But not every restless night is benign. Studies have found that poor sleep can pose a particular threat to older adults: Falls, depression and anxiety, problems with memory, and increased suicide risk are among the impacts of sleep issues in this population group that researchers have found. But scientists are still unsure why those risk associations exist.
但并不是每一个不眠之夜都是无害的。研究表明，不良的睡眠会对年纪更大一些的人造成特定的威胁，调查人员发现，睡眠问题在该人群中造成的影响包括摔倒、抑郁、焦虑、记忆障碍以及上升的自杀风险。但是科学家仍然无法确定为什么不良的睡眠会伴随着风险。
What is clear is the association between good sleep and psychological well-being in older adults. A 2010 study documented that association when it came to sleep quality, but sleep quantity didn't show the same effects.
可以确定的是，对于年纪更大一些的人，良好的睡眠与心理健康是相关的。一项 2010 年的研究记录了心理健康与睡眠质量之间的相关性，而针对睡眠时长展开调查时，却没有发现这种关联。
And therein, experts say, may lie the key to understanding sleep as you age. If you're sleeping less, but don't feel negative effects out of bed, the changes you notice may just be normal age-related.
专家说，可能这就是理解你衰老过程中睡眠（变化）的关键。如果你的睡眠时间正在变短，但是当你起床后，却并没有受到负面影响，那么你所意识到的变化，可能只是年龄变化所导致的正常现象。
Over time, Vitiello says, sleep patterns simply change. "A lot of older adults recognize that they don't sleep the same as they did when they were 18, but they can still function and they're OK. And all is well with the universe."
维蒂耶洛说，人们的睡眠模式只是随着时间而变化。“许多年长者发现他们的睡眠不再像他们 18 岁时那样，但是他们的身体依然健康而且他们也觉得不错。那么一切就都很圆满和谐。”
————— 文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报
重点词汇
pattern/ˈpætərn/
n. 模式
e.g.
搭配短语：behavioral pattern
搭配短语：working pattern
age/eɪdʒ/
v. 变老
e.g.
英文释义：to become older
例句：As he aged, his memory got worse.
例句：You haven't aged a bit./You haven't aged a day.
stiffen/ˈstɪfn/
v. 变得僵硬
e.g.
词性拓展：stiff (adj.)
英文释义：to become stiff or difficult to bend
aggravating/ˈæɡrəveɪtɪŋ/
adj. 令人恼怒的
e.g.
词性拓展：aggravate (v.)
词性拓展：aggravation (n.)
近义词：annoying
例句：He is unprofessional as well as aggravating.
snoozes/snuːz/
n. 打盹，小睡
e.g.
搭配短语：take a snooze
搭配短语：have a snooze
词义辨析:
sleep，snooze
snooze 通常比 sleep 来得更轻，时间也更短。此外，snooze 通常发生在白天，而 sleep 则没有时间上的限制。
garbage/ˈɡɑːrbɪdʒ/
n. 垃圾
e.g.
同义词：trash (AmE)
同义词：rubbish (BrE)
benign/bɪˈnaɪn/
adj. 没有危害的
e.g.
英文释义：kind and gentle
搭配短语：relatively benign medicines
搭配短语：environmentally benign
例句：My grandma is a benign old lady.
depression/dɪˈpreʃn/
n. 抑郁，沮丧，消沉
e.g.
词性拓展：depress (v.)
搭配短语：fall into depression
搭配短语：go into depression
搭配短语：suffer from depression
例句：She fell into a black depression and refused to leave her room.
document/ˈdɑːkjument/
v. 记录，记载
e.g.
词性拓展：document (n.)
例句：He wrote a book documenting his childhood experiences.
therein lies sth.
此即，缘此（用以说明某事是由某种情况引起的）
e.g.
英文释义：When you say therein lies a situation or problem, you mean that an existing situation has caused that situation or problem.
例句：He works extremely hard and therein lies the key to his success.
function/ˈfʌŋkʃn/
v. 工作，运转，运行
e.g.
英文释义：to work in the correct or intended way
例句：Despite the power cuts，the hospital continued to function.
例句：I can't function without a coffee in the morning.
拓展内容
提高睡眠质量的小贴士
睡觉是人一生中非常重要的事情。睡眠质量的好坏直接影响人身体的健康。那么如何提高自己的睡眠质量呢？希望以下小贴士能帮助你好好入睡。
小贴士一：尽量不要在睡觉之前洗澡。睡眠往往发生在人体体温下降后，而洗热水澡却会使体温升高，从而推迟大脑释放“睡眠激素”。因此，应该尽量避免在洗完澡后立即入睡。
小贴士二：晚餐时不要吃过于油腻的食物。高脂肪的食物在胃里的消化时间长，这会导致人们夜里无法安然入睡。因此，为了保证高质量的睡眠，晚餐最好吃得少一点、清淡一点，最好选择一些低脂但含有蛋白质的食物，如鱼类、鸡肉或者瘦肉。
小贴士三：远离电子设备。即便是微弱的光线，都能影响你的生物钟，打乱褪黑激素和血清素的水平。因此，入睡前应远离手机等电子设备，避免它们影响到睡眠的质量。
小贴士四：采用一个舒服的睡姿。当你要入睡，或者半夜醒来的时候，要有意识地采用一个令自己舒服的睡姿。保持身体的完全放松，准备进入梦乡。
