飞翔鸽舍鸽子图片:是的，你越来越矮了

你年纪越来越大，而你也可能在变得越来越矮。

Why are you shrinking? Starting in their late 30s, it's normal for men and women to lose about a half-inch in height every 10 years. Melinda Beck on Lunch Break looks at what point does it get worrisome and what can be done to help.

我们为什么会缩掉？自30岁之后正常情况下，男性和女性都会在每10年里矮去1/2英寸（注：1/2英寸=1.27厘米）。Melinda Beck在她的专栏‘午休时刻’探讨了到什么程度这种萎缩会让人担心，以及怎么做来避免这种现象。

Height loss is a natural part of aging—some people start shrinking slightly as early as 30. Losing too much height too rapidly, however, can signal a high risk for hip fractures, spinal fractures and even heart disease, particularly in men, several recent studies have found.

身高萎缩是人体老化自然的一个组成部分- 有些人从30岁出头就开始渐渐地萎缩。但是近期的一些研究表明，身高缩短太快，尤其是男性，会有诸如股骨骨折、脊椎骨骨折甚至心脏病的风险。

"If you are a female, between the ages of 45 and 65, and you notice you are shrinking, that's pretty usual," says Marian Hannan, an epidemiologist at Hebrew Senior Life, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. "If you're a man, it may be a warning sign to speak to your health-care provider."

“如果你是45岁到65岁的女性，而你意识到自己在萎缩，那是较平常的现象。"哈佛医学院附属希伯来老年医院的玛丽安·汉南区说道，“如果你是男性，那就是一个信号，你最好同你的医师沟通一下了。”

It's not uncommon to shrink by a quarter to a third of an inch every decade after age 40. Think of a house settling on its foundation. Disks—the gel-like pads between vertebrae—lose fluid over the years and flatten. Muscles lose mass and weaken, especially in the abdomen, which can exacerbate poor posture. Even the arches of the foot flatten out slightly, reducing height by a few millimeters more.

在步入40岁后，每10年间，萎缩1/4到1/3英寸是正常的。你可以想象建在地基上的房子。脊柱间象胶状的那些所谓的椎盘，会随着时间的流失而失去水分，而被压得更扁。肌肉会变空而变虚弱，尤其是腹部的肌肉，它会造成我们的姿势变得更差。甚至脚踝处的跟腱，也会渐渐变平，又让我们减去几毫米。

The process accelerates with age, particularly after age 70. In one long-running study of more than 2,000 Baltimore residents, men lost an average of 1.2 inches between ages 30 and 70, and a total of 2 inches by age 80. Women lost an average of 2 inches between 30 and 70 and 3.1 inches total by age 80.

这个萎缩过程尤其到了70岁后，是随年纪上升而加速的。在一项针对2000名巴尔的摩居民的长期研究表明，男人在30至70岁之间，平均失去大概1.2英寸，而到了80岁前，会总共失去2英寸。女性在30至70岁之间平均失去2英寸，而到了80岁前，会总共失去3.1英寸。

Smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or caffeine excessively, extreme dieting and taking steroids and other medications can exacerbate height loss. Sticking to a healthy diet, with adequate calcium and vitamin D, and doing regular weight-bearing exercise can help stave it off, although having strong genes also helps.

吸烟、饮酒或咖啡因过度，极度节食和服用类固醇及其他药物，会加剧的身高的下降。坚持健康的饮食习惯，摄入足够的钙和维生素D，并定期做负重运动，可以帮助减缓身高的下降，当然本身具备强劲的基因也是有用的。

When people shrink more or faster, the biggest concern is osteoporosis, in which bones become weak, brittle and vulnerable to breakage.

当人们萎缩过快，最大的担忧就是骨质疏松症。骨质疏松症使骨骼变得脆弱易断。

Dr. Hannan's study, in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research last week, found that men over age 70 who lose 2 or more inches in two years have a 54% higher risk of fracturing a hip in the next two years than men who lose less height. Elderly women who lose that much height that fast have a 21% higher risk of hip fracture, said the study, which examined data from over 3,000 adults from the Framingham Heart Study.

上周在骨骼和矿物质研究日志上刊登了汉南区医生的研究结果。这项研究的数据取自弗雷明汉心脏研究项目里超过3000名的成人数据。结果表明，70岁以上的男性在两年内失去2英寸以上的话，相比缩身较慢的老年人，有大于54％的风险蒙受股骨骨折。而老年妇女如果那么快地变矮，蒙受股骨骨折的风险大于21％。

Height loss is also a marker for heart disease in men. A large study of British men, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2006, found that men who lost 1.2 inches or more over 20 years were 46% more likely to have suffered from coronary heart disease, and 64% more likely to have died from any cause than men who lost less height.

身高萎缩对男性来说也是心脏病的征兆。发表于2006内科医学档案杂志上，对英国男性做的一个大规模研究表明，20年间身高下降>1.2英寸的男性,患冠心病的可能性超过46%，而与身高下降不快的男性相比，死亡机率超过64%。

Why is height loss in men more telling than in women? Because men typically have more muscle mass than women and lose bone more slowly, underlying health problems may be much more advanced by the time the height loss becomes apparent, says Sundeep Khosla, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

For both men and women, many of the common diseases of aging—including osteoporosis, heart disease and respiratory problems—go hand in hand. "If you have one of these risk factors, that may increase your risk of having others," says Dr. Khosla, who is president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, a professional organization of osteoporosis specialists.

对于男性和女性，许多老化带来的疾病，包括骨质疏松症、心脏病和呼吸系统问题，一般是同事出现，’齐头并进‘的。 “如果你有这些风险因素中的一个，可能您同时具备其他问题的风险也会增加，”美国骨骼与矿物质研究学会主席科斯拉博士说道。（美国骨骼与矿物质研究学会是一个研究骨质疏松症专家组成的专业组织）。

He and other experts say that keeping close tabs on patients' heights can be a simple and inexpensive way for doctors to stay alert to other health problems.

他和其他专家说，密切监测病人的身高是简单而廉价的方法，有助于对病人的其他健康问题保持警觉。

Height loss can alert doctors to osteoporosis that other tests miss, particularly those that measure bone density in the wrist or hip. In a study in the journal Bone in February, University of Pittsburgh researchers found that for each ½ inch that patients over 65 had lost from their tallest adult height, their chance of having a vertebral fracture increased by 20%. While some are extremely painful, vertebral fractures are often asymptomatic until the spine begins to collapse.

身高萎缩丢失可以提醒医生骨质疏松症问题，它们在其他测试中，尤其是那些在手腕或臀部测量骨质密度的测试有可能会被疏忽掉。在2月在《骨骼》杂志中刊登的一项研究中说，匹兹堡大学的研究人员发现，65岁以上的患者中，高度每失去半英寸，脊椎骨折的可能性提高20%。虽然有些脊椎骨折是极其痛的，但一般的脊椎骨折直到脊椎开始崩溃之前是无症状的。

Not everyone loses height as they get older. Some 20% of people don't shrink noticeably thanks to a combination of genetics and following healthy habits throughout their lives, experts say.

但并非每个人岁数增加时都会缩短。据专家们说，大约20%的人因为基因好，再加上生活中保持健康的习惯，所以没有明显的萎缩。

Although about 70% of a person's height is determined by genetics, children need good nutrition, with plenty of protein, vitamins and calcium, to reach their full adult potential. Prenatal care makes a difference too: If your mother smoked or was malnourished while she was pregnant, you're probably slightly shorter than you should be.

虽然70%的人的身高是由基因决定的，但儿童需要通过摄入足够的营养，如蛋白质、维他命、钙来完全达到潜在的成人高度。家长的护理也举足轻重：如果你的母亲在她怀孕时抽烟或营养不良，你可能会比你应该长成的样子要矮些。

Experts say the best way to stave off height loss and osteoporosis in later years is to build strong bones in childhood. As well, eating a healthy diet and consuming sufficient calcium and vitamin D continue to be crucial for bone health in middle age and beyond.

据专家说，最好的、在老年时减缓身体萎缩和骨质疏松的方法是在幼年时强健骨骼。自中年开始，健康饮食、并摄入足够的钙和维生素D也对骨骼健康举足轻重

Regular weight-bearing exercise, including running and walking, is important too. Israeli researchers who measured more than 2,000 men and women in 1965 and again in 1995 found that those who engaged in moderately vigorous aerobic activity, either throughout their lives or just after age 40, lost only about half as much height as those who stopped exercising in middle age or never exercised at all.

经常坚持负重锻炼，包括跑步、疾走也是很重要的。有以色列的研究员在1965年和1995年间，在测量了2000多名男女后，发现那些从事适度激烈有氧活动的人-无论是贯穿其整个生命或只是40岁后才开始锻炼的， 和那些终生不运动或在中年后停止运动的人相比，所变矮的程度只是后者的一半。