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Did You Know That Moose Can Have Arthritis?
糜鹿也有關節(jié)炎？
It’s easy to tell, even at a glance, that people and moose are pretty different. Moose, at least males, have big, wing shaped antlers. People have no antlers. Moose are herbivores, eating only plants.
即便只匆匆一瞥，也能輕易看出人和糜鹿是完全不同的動物。糜鹿，至少是雄性糜鹿擁有大型的、像翅膀一樣的鹿角。而人是沒有角的。糜鹿是食草動物，只吃植物。
We eat mostly junk food. Despite their salad only diet, moose can weigh as much as 1400 pounds. Even the fattest humans top the scales at only around 1000 pounds. The list goes on.
我們卻幾乎總吃垃圾食品。盡管“色拉”是糜鹿唯一的食物，它們的體重卻能達到1400磅。而我們人類中最胖的也只有1000磅。兩者間的此類差異數不勝數。
And yet, in some ways, people and moose are similar. For example, both suffer from arthritis.
但是在某些方面，人與糜鹿是相似的。例如，兩者都飽受關節(jié)炎的困擾。
And that’s interesting because how and why moose develop arthritis may be able to tell us something about the pathology of the human variety.
這個問題很有趣，因為研究糜鹿患上關節(jié)炎的過程和原因，可能有助于我們發(fā)現一些人類患關節(jié)炎的病理。
For example, researchers working in Michigan’s upper peninsula have been studying moose there for decades. And one thing they’ve found is while arthritis in moose is partly genetic, it’s also triggered by the environment.
例如，位于密西根湖上游半島的研究人員已經對糜鹿進行了數十年的研究。他們發(fā)現糜鹿患關節(jié)炎在一定程度上是由基因引起的，同時也受到環(huán)境的影響。
Specifically, the researchers have observed that moose that suffer from arthritis seem to have not had access to proper nutrition early in life.
特別需要提到的是，研究人員觀察的那些患關節(jié)炎的糜鹿似乎幼年都營養(yǎng)不良。
Perhaps they were born during a drought when there weren’t enough berries and other plants to eat. Whatever the case, even if those moose had plenty to eat later on, their very early nutritional deficits appear to have doomed them to an adult life of aching joints.
可能是因為它們出生于旱期，沒有足夠的漿果和其他植被可以食用。無論情況如何，即便那些糜鹿后來有足夠的食物，它們幼年的營養(yǎng)匱乏使它們的成年生活注定與關節(jié)疼痛相伴。
The takeaway for scientists who study arthritis, and doctors who treat it in people, is that how and what we eat, even as babies, may lay the foundation for chronic arthritis and other health problems later in life.
研究關節(jié)炎的科學家和治療關節(jié)炎的醫(yī)生得出結論：我們（即便是在嬰兒時期）怎么吃、吃什么可能會為后來生活中的慢性關節(jié)炎和其他健康問題埋下隱患。
And thanks to the moose, those scientists are also beginning to better understand the sorts of diets that could lower those risks.
得益于對麋鹿的研究，那些科學家也開始更好地了解能降低患關節(jié)炎風險的飲食種類。
