科技：站着作业更健康

科技：站着作业更健康
The best anti-ageing technique could be standing up, scientists believe, after discovering that spending more time on two feet protects DNA.
科学家发现，最好的抗变老技能或许便是站起来，别“束手待毙”。

A study found that too much sitting down shortens telomeres, the protective caps which sit at the end of chromosomes.
科学家研讨发现，尽管训练越多的人往往更健康，可是最重要的要素仍是坐着的时刻长短。长时刻坐着会缩短端粒——染色体结尾的维护帽。

Short telomeres have been linked to premature ageing, disease and early death. So spending less time on the sofa could help people live longer by preventing their DNA from ageing.
端粒缩短会导致早衰、疾病乃至早逝，因而削减坐在沙发上的时刻可以协助防止DNA变老，延伸寿数。

The research found that people who were frequently on their feet had longer telomeres, which were keeping the genetic code safe from wear and tear.
研讨发现常常站立的人，端粒往往更长，可以削减遗传暗码磨损。

Intriguingly taking part in more exercise did not seem to have an impact on telomere length.
一个人坐着的时刻越少，他的端粒就越长，他就越或许长命。风趣的是，多训练身体好像对端粒的长度并没有影响。

Prof Mai-Lis Hellenius, from Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, said : "In many countries formal exercise may be increasing, but at the same time people spend more time sitting.
瑞典斯德哥尔摩的卡罗林斯卡医学院的海勒纽斯教授说：“在许多国家，正式的训练或许越来越多，但一起人们坐着的时刻也越来越多。”

"There is growing concern that not only low physical activity but probably also sitting and sedentary behaviour is an important and new health hazard of our time.
“引起越来越多的忧虑的不仅仅是体育训练时刻少，久坐行为也是咱们这个年代新的严重健康隐忧。”

"We hypothesise that a reduction in sitting hours is of greater importance than an increase in exercise time for elderly risk individuals."
“咱们以为关于早衰人群来说，削减坐着的时刻比添加运动时刻来得愈加重要。”

Telomeres stop chromosomes from fraying, clumping together and "scrambling" genetic code.
端粒可以使染色体防止磨损、凝聚以及“打乱”遗传暗码。

Scientists liken their function to the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces, and say that lifespan is linked to their length.
科学家将端粒的功用比作鞋带的塑料头，称寿数长短与端粒长短相关。

Researchers looked at 49 overweight sedentary adults in their late sixties and measured the length of the telomeres in their blood cells.
研讨人员查询了49名六七十岁的肥壮久坐人士，并丈量了血液细胞中的端粒长短。

Half of them had been part of an exercise programme that lasted six months, while the other half had not.
他们中有一半的人参与训练方案至少长达六个月，另一半的人则没有参与。

Physical activity levels were assessed using a diary and pedometer to measure the amount of footsteps taken each day.
研讨人员经过记载日记以及运用步程计来丈量每天走了多少步，以此来评价训练强度水平。

The amount of time spent sitting down was worked out through a questionnaire.
而坐着的时刻则经过查询问卷的方法计算。