大学英语四级美文欣赏：压力太大影响免疫系统

　　Sheddingsome light on why stress might be bad for you, a new study finds that parts of your immune system ramp up when you get into personal conflicts with others.

　　shed light on 查明；说明；解释；照亮

　　immune system 免疫系统

　　ramp up 增加；加强

　　It's not clear how this effect of stress may make you sick, but the activatedparts of the immune system -- which cause inflammationin the body -- have been linked to conditions such as diabetesand cancer.

　　"The message is that the flotsamand jetsamof life predict changes in your underlyingbiology in ways that cumulatively could have a bad effect on health," said study co-author Shelley Taylor, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "What this tells me is that people should be investing in socially supportive relationships, and they should not court relationships that lead to a great deal of conflict."

　　flotsam and jetsam 无价值物；零碎杂物

　　underlying adj. 潜在的

　　It's well-known that stress causes several reactions in the body. "Stress activates the immune system in preparation for fighting infection and healing wounds," explained Dr. Andrew Miller, a professor of psychiatryand behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta. "This is not a bad thing, especially in the context of a situation where a fight and wounding may ensue. However, if the immune system is constantly activated, this can contribute to a multitudeof chronichealth problems, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and neuropsychiatricdisorders."

　　cardiovascular disease 心血管疾病

　　neuropsychiatric disorders 神经紊乱

　　ensue v. 接着发生；因而产生 常用词组 ensue from 由……引起；随着发生（接着……）

　　In the new study, researchers sought to determine whether the stress of personal conflicts and competitive sports would trigger the release of moleculesknown as cytokines, which are linked to inflammation.

　　trigger 引起；促使；触发

　　The researchers paid 122 young adults (53 men and 69 women) to take part in the study. The participants filled out diaries about their activities over eight days, focusing on their interactions with others and whether these were positive or negative. The participants were also given stress tests in the lab. Salivasamples were taken before and after those tests, to measure biological markers for inflammation.

　　fill out 填写

　　The researchers found that cytokinelevels went up after "negative" interactions, usually arguments. But playing sports didn't have the same effect, even though it's competitive. This may be because "we're really talking about people doing friendly games," Taylor said. "We're not looking at USC playing in the football finals."

　　It's possible that some kinds of competitions, like poker games, could trigger inflammation, she said.

　　Why does it matter if stress triggers molecules linked to inflammation? "If you aren't wounded, there's no place for them to go, and they're circulating," Taylor said. "It's not like they've gone to the site of a wound and engaged in anti-infection activity."

　　Low-grade inflammation in the body can contribute to the buildup of artery-blocking plaqueand contribute to disorders linked to an out-of-control immune system, such as asthma, Taylor said.

　　So what does this all mean? The challenge, Emory's Miller said, is figuring out which came first -- stress or inflammation.

　　"Do aggressive, socially disadvantaged individuals exhibit more inflammation because they are constantly stressed?" he asked. "Or are they running their immune system hot because that is their fundamental nature, and the cytokines are driving their aggression because cytokines inducethe brain to perceivethe world as threatening?"

　　induce v. 诱导；引诱；感应

　　perceive v. 察觉；感知；认知

　　The study appears in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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