Skiers Have a Lower Risk of Depression and Dementia 

滑雪爱好者患抑郁和痴呆的风险更低 

If you believe that activities like cross-country skiing are good for your mental health, new research from Sweden shows you're right. After analyzing health records of cross-country skiers, scientists found that they had a lower risk of depression and dementia. 

瑞典的一项新研究表明，越野滑雪有利于心理健康。科学家在分析完越野滑雪者的健康记录后发现：他们患抑郁和痴呆的风险更低。 

"As brain researchers, we have had the unique opportunity to analyze an exceptionally large group of very physically active people over two decades," said research team leader and Lund University professor Tomas Deierborg in a university blog post, "and we have unraveled some interesting results." 

“作为大脑研究者，我们获得了这个独特的机会——在过去20年中对一群身体活跃的受试者进行了分析，”研究团队的负责人、隆德大学的托马斯·迪尔伯格（Tomas Deierborg）教授在学校的官方博客中说道，“而且，我们还有了一些有趣的发现。” 

Researchers at Lund University and Uppsala University conducted a study on 200,000 people who participated in Vasaloppet—a cross-country skiing race in Sweden—between 1989 and 2010. Compared with a similarly sized control group of the general population, they found that the number of skiers diagnosed with dementia and depression was 50 percent lower than the control group. The skiers also had a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological disorder. 

隆德大学和乌普萨拉大学的研究员对1989年至2010年间参加瑞典越野滑雪比赛Vasaloppet的20万人进行了研究。与由普通人口构成的规模类似的对照组相比，他们发现：确诊为痴呆和抑郁症的滑雪患者的人数比对照组低50%。滑雪者患帕金森疾病（一种退行性神经系统疾病）的风险也相对更低。

Among two decades of Vasaloppet finishers, the researchers found that 233 people had developed dementia, compared to 319 cases of the disease among non-racers. In addition, 1,030 skiers were later diagnosed with depression, compared to 2,045 in the control group. The numbers for Parkinson's were less definitive, but the Vasaloppet skiers still fared better than average: Only 119 of them were diagnosed with the disease, versus 164 people in the general population. Any way you look at it, the skiers were clearly the ones with the reduced risk of disease. 

在这20年间完成Vasaloppet比赛的滑雪者中，研究员发现233人患有痴呆症，而未比赛的对照组中，319人患有这一疾病。此外，1030名滑雪者在后来的时间内被诊断出抑郁症，而对照组的人数为2045名。患帕金森疾病的人数尚未确定，但Vasaloppet滑雪者的患病人数仍低于平均水平，只有119人，而对照组为164人。从任何一个角度而言，滑雪者患这些疾病的风险都显然更低。 

Interestingly, researchers found that the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, another major neurological disorder, was not reduced among the skiers. That actually contradicts previous studies in the field that suggest physical activity can lower the risk of Alzheimer's. 

有趣的是，研究员发现，滑雪者患阿尔兹海默症（另一种主要神经系统疾病）的风险并未降低，这实际上与该领域先前的研究相矛盾。此前，研究表明体育锻炼可以降低患阿尔兹海默症的风险。

 "The mechanisms behind this still need to be investigated," said doctoral student and study author Tomas Olsson, "but it seems that those who are physically active have a 'motor reserve' that postpones the onset of the disease." 

“其背后的机理仍需进一步研究，”博士生兼研究作者托马斯·奥尔森（Tomas Olsson）说道。“但那些身体活跃的人似乎具有‘运动储备’，可以延缓疾病的发作。”