It’s long been known that losing weight helps reduce snoring and sleep apnea. Now an MRI study from the University of Pennsylvania has found that the culprit is not neck or chin fat， but tongue fat. Yes， the problem is fat tongues.

人們一直認為減肥有助于緩解打鼾和睡眠呼吸暫停，但現(xiàn)在賓夕法尼亞大學進行的磁共振成像研究發(fā)現(xiàn)罪魁禍首不是脖子或者下巴脂肪，而是舌頭脂肪。對，就是舌頭太胖了。

“Most clinicians， and even experts in the sleep apnea world， have not typically focused on fat in the tongue for treating sleep apnea，” says coauthor Richard Schwab， co-medical director of Penn Sleep Center. “Now that we know tongue fat is a risk factor and that sleep apnea improves when tongue fat is reduced， we have established a unique therapeutic target that we’ve never had before.”

這一研究的合著者Richard Schwab是賓夕法尼亞大學睡眠中心聯(lián)合醫(yī)學主任，他說：“大部分臨床醫(yī)生，甚至還有睡眠呼吸暫停方面的專家，在治療睡眠呼吸暫停時通常都沒有關注舌脂。既然我們知道了舌脂是風險因素，而且減少舌脂會改善睡眠呼吸暫停，我們就已經(jīng)確定了此前沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)的獨特的治療靶點?！?/p>

He means tongue diets.

他指的就是舌頭節(jié)食。

Schwab found a strong correlation between lowing tongue fat volume and lessening sleep apnea： “Future studies could be designed to explore whether certain low-fat diets are better than others in reducing tongue fat， and whether cold therapies， like those used to reduce stomach fat， might be applied to reducing tongue fat.” He is also looking into whether some snorers who are not obese might just have fat tongues.

Schwab發(fā)現(xiàn)減少舌頭脂肪含量和減輕睡眠呼吸暫停之間有很強的相關性：“未來研究的目的可以是研究特定的低脂飲食是否比其他飲食在減少舌脂方面效果更好，像用于減少胃部脂肪的冷療法是否可以被用來減少舌脂?！彼舱{(diào)查了那些不肥胖的人打鼾是不是就只是因為舌頭太胖了。

Sleep apnea is a big deal： More than 20 million Americans stop and start breathing while sleeping， often causing high blood pressure， constant wake-ups， and the utter consternation of bedmates who， years later， still read studies about snoring prevention （no personal experience here whatsoever）. The researchers note that snoring can occasionally also be caused by large tonsils or a recessed jaw. Or fat tongues.

睡眠呼吸暫停是個大問題：兩千多萬美國人在睡覺時呼吸會暫停，這種情況通常會導致高血壓、頻繁醒來，還會使同床的人受到嚴重驚嚇，致使他們多年后還會去讀關于避免打鼾的研究（此處并非個人經(jīng)歷）。研究人員強調(diào)打鼾偶爾也會由扁桃體肥大或下巴短造成，或者就是因為舌頭胖。

Word Study

apnea /'?pn??/ n. 無呼吸，呼吸暫停;窒息

Obesity is a major risk factor for sleep apnea.

establish /?'st?bl??/ v. 建立;確立;證實

By then she was established as a star.

therapeutic /'θer?'pju?t?k/ adj. 治療的，療法的;有益于健康的

obese /??'bi?s/ adj. 病態(tài)肥胖的;臃腫的;虛胖的

Obese people tend to have higher blood pressure than lean people.

consternation /'k?nst?'ne??n/ n. 驚愕;驚恐

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