One Thing You Can Do Right Now to Help Your Heart

你現在就可以做的有助於心臟健康的一件事

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Many diseases and medical conditions are caused by things out of our control. Yet experts say you can control and even prevent many of the risk factors that increase your chances of dying.

很多疾病和病理狀況都是由我們無法控制的事物引起的。 然而專家表示，我們能控制並且甚至能阻止很多增加死亡機率的危險因素。

Experts note that an unhealthy lifestyle can put you at great risk of heart disease and stroke. Poor diet, having too much body fat and a lack of physical exercise all increase your risk of heart disease -- so can using tobacco products and drinking too much alcohol.

專家指出一個不健康的生活方式能使你患心臟疾病和中風的風險很大。糟糕的日常飲食、體內脂肪過多或者缺乏體育鍛煉都會增加你獲得心臟疾病的風險。吸菸製品和飲酒過量也會增加風險。

So doctors urge us to eat healthy foods, get exercise, stop smoking and limit our alcohol intake.

所以醫生力勸我們食用健康的事物，進行鍛鍊，戒菸並限制我們的酒精攝入量。

But there is something else you can do. And it is free and easy. Smile!

但是你還可以做其他的事情。並且它是免費且很容易做到。那就是微笑！

Anand Chockalingam is a heart disease specialist at University of Missouri Health Care in Columbia, Missouri. He advises his patients to smile.

阿南德·喬卡林甘是密蘇里州哥倫比亞密蘇里大學醫學院的心臟疾病專家。他建議他的患者要微笑。

"When we smile, the brain wiring gets altered. The chemicals that are released are more positive."

“當我們微笑時，大腦的構造會發生改變。釋放的化學物質更具有積極的一面。”

He says smiling is a first step in fighting physical and emotional stress and its sometimes harmful effects on human health. This is not just New Age advice. Several studies support Dr. Chockaligam’s prescription to smile more.

他表示微笑是對抗身體和情緒壓力以及他們對人類健康產生的有害影響第一步。這不僅僅是新時代生活方式的建議。幾項研究更加支援了喬卡利甘的多微笑處方。

When we talk about disorders of the heart and blood vessels, we are talking about cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease. And they are the number one cause of death around the world. That information comes from the World Health Organization.

當我們談到心臟和血管紊亂時，我們常談到冠心病等心血管疾病。並且他們是世界上的第一大致死因素。這個資訊來自世界衛生組織。

The main cause of heart attacks and strokes are blockages in blood vessels. These prevent blood from flowing to the heart or the brain. The most common reason for these blockages is a build-up of fatty deposits on the inner walls of the arteries.

心臟病發作和中風的主要起因是血管中的阻塞物。這些阻塞物阻止血液流進心臟或者大腦。這些堵塞物形成的最常見的原因是動脈內壁脂肪物的沉積。

When you feel stressed or under pressure, your body releases many natural hormones including adrenaline and cortisol.

當你感到焦慮不安或者承受著壓力時，你的身體會釋放很多腎上腺素和皮質醇等自然激素。

Adrenaline increases your heart rate and blood pressure. Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone. It increases sugar in the bloodstream. If you are truly in danger, these hormones can help you. They are part of what we call our fight-or-flight response.

腎上腺素使你的心率加快、血壓升高。皮質醇是身體的主要應激激素。它增加血流中的糖分。如果你真的處境危險時，這些激素會幫助你。他們是我們常說的戰鬥或逃跑反應（一種應激反應）中的一種。

However, when stressed for a long period, these stress hormones are ever-present in our bodies. And that, medical researchers warn, may lead to health problems.

然而，當我們的焦慮情緒維持很長一段時間時，這些壓力激素會經常存在在我們的體內。並且醫學研究人員警告那可能引發健康問題。

Researchers with the American Heart Association say the connection between stress and heart disease is still unclear.

美國心臟協會的研究人員表示壓力與心臟疾病之間的聯絡還不是很明確。

However, they claim that when people are stressed for long periods of time, they may not make the best decisions about what to eat. They may overeat, smoke or drink too much alcohol. They may not get enough exercise or sleep. And all of this can lead to health problems.

然而，他們聲稱當人們焦慮持續很長一段時間時，他們可能不能對自己的飲食做出最佳決定。他們可能吃得太多、吸很多煙或者喝太多酒。他們可能沒有足夠的鍛鍊和睡眠。並且所有這些可能導致健康問題。

Dr. Chockalingam says a smile may be one way to help.He tells his patients to smile 20 times an hour. To some, that might seem like a lot of smiling. Or some might even feel foolish ... smiling for seemingly no reason. But a smile does not involve drugs. It is not invasive like a surgical operation. It is free and it has no bad side effects.

喬卡利甘博士表示微笑可能成為有幫助意義的一種方式。他告訴他的患者一個小時要微笑20次。對於某些人來說，那似乎微笑過度了。或者一些人甚至可能感覺看起來毫無理由的微笑這種行為很愚蠢。但是一個微笑並沒有害處。它並不像一個外科手術那樣具有侵入性。它是免費的並且沒有副作用。

"Once people smile, they are relaxing. This relaxation directly lowers blood pressure, improves sugar levels in the blood. If we are smiling, we are breaking that link between stress and health."

“一旦人們開始微笑，他們就放鬆下來。這種放鬆可直接降低血壓，改善血糖水平。如果我們正在微笑，我們正在打破健康與壓力之間的聯絡。”

And it just may provide a little extra protection to everyone's heart health. And that's the Health & Lifestyle report.

I’m Anna Matteo.