首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
"Is the environment making us fat?" That is the intriguing question posed by Bruce Blumberg of the University of California, Irv
"Is the environment making us fat?" That is the intriguing question posed by Bruce Blumberg of the University of California, Irv
admin
2017-03-15
65
问题
"Is the environment making us fat?" That is the intriguing question posed by Bruce Blumberg of the University of California, Irvine. His research into endocrine disrupters—chemical compounds that interfere with the body’s normal processing of hormones such as oestrogen—has led him to conclude that some of them may well encourage obesity.
The notion of such "obesogens", as Dr. Blumberg calls them, is controversial. Some insist that diet and exercise (or, rather, the lack thereof) are the simpler explanations for obesity, with perhaps a dash of genetic predisposition thrown in. However, a panel of experts convened at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting argued that those factors are insufficient to explain the dramatic increase in obesity seen across the world since 1980. Caloric intake and exercise levels have not altered enough to explain the difference, the scientists maintained, and human genes cannot have changed in such a short time.
Some environmental-health experts suspect that fetal exposure to nasties found in everyday plastics might be the underlying explanation of the recent obesity trend. John Peterson Meyers of Environmental Health Sciences, an advocacy group, observes that a number of synthetic chemicals widely found in the environment have been shown to alter the activity of genes, even when they are present at extremely low concentrations. This disruptive effect has not been fully appreciated, he argues, because safety trials on these substances have concentrated on the risks posed by high concentrations rather than low ones.
Research on animals seems to bolster this hypothesis. Retha Newbold of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a government agency in America, points to diethylstilbestrol (DES) as an example. This drug, the first orally absorbable synthetic oestrogen, was given to pregnant women in the 1950s to help them avoid miscarriage. The drug fell out of favour when it transpired that children exposed to it ended up with damaged reproductive organs. Ms. Newbold has now discovered that early DES exposure also leads to obesity in adult mice. As her experiments controlled for both diet and exercise, she thinks fetal exposure to the drug must play a role in the fattening that was evident later in life. How this happens is unclear, but she speculates that the compound may interfere with the body’s ability to deal with glucose in the blood.
Other synthetic hormones and endocrine disrupters common in the modern world seem to have a similar impact, and not just in the womb. A study of Japanese women has suggested a link between obesity and adult exposure to bisphenol-A, a component of plastic bottles. Frederick vom Saal of the University of Missouri has investigated the impact of early exposure to this compound. His work on laboratory animals showed that fetal exposure to bisphenol-A led to obesity and cancer. Dr. vom Saal says that new research should be done to clarify the role of "perinatal programming of obesity".
Plastics are not the only potential culprits. Dr. Blumberg has identified tributyl tin, which is found not only in PVC plastics but also in fungicides. Tributyl tin is part of a larger group of chemicals known as organo-tins, which combine tin and hydrocarbons; the link with obesity was discovered only relatively recently. Dr. Blumberg believes the compound interferes with the body’s normal fat-formation process, and puts its fat-storage mechanism on overdrive, plumping up the person.
Dr. Meyers claims this amounts to "a revolution unfolding in environmental-health sciences". Perhaps. It is possible that the long-marginalised scientists of the environmental-health field are right, and that these endocrine disrupters do play a part in explaining the ongoing trends in obesity. However, as the more cautious of them admit, that cannot be verified until the animal experiments are scaled up to proper, long-term human studies which can verify their hypothesis. Until then, it is probably best to go easy on the pizza—and work out at the gym.
Which of the following is NOT the cause of obesity, according to Dr. Blumberg?
选项
A、Plastics.
B、Tributyl tin.
C、Diethylstilbestrol.
D、Obestrogen.
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/D5SO777K
本试题收录于:
NAETI高级口译笔试题库外语翻译证书(NAETI)分类
0
NAETI高级口译笔试
外语翻译证书(NAETI)
相关试题推荐
Socialcontrolreferstosocialprocesses,plannedorunplanned,bywhichpeoplearetaught,persuaded,orforcedtoconformto
Seekingtoframehisnewadministrationasonewithafirmfocusonclosingthegapbetweenchildrenfromaffluentandpoorfami
Thepreschoolteachersallthoughtthechildaprodigy,becauseofnootherchildrenatthatschoolhadeverbeensoadeptorkn
Aboutsixmonthsafterthey’dreturned,whiletheywerewalkingslowlyinthestreetinahotafternoon,thechildwasdreaming
Filledwithwhimsicalmusic,vibrantcostumesandspectacularscenicelements,thisintriguingtaleaboutacuriousandimaginat
首先,我感谢莱文校长的邀请,使我有机会来到世界著名学府耶鲁大学,同青年朋友和老师们相聚在一起。进入耶鲁大学的校园,看到莘莘学子青春洋溢的脸庞,呼吸着书香浓郁的空气,我不由回想起40年前在北京清华大学的求学岁月。当年老师们对我的教诲,同学们给我的启发,我至今
LadiesandGentlemen,Tenyearsago,foodsafetywasnotonmanypeople’smindinEurope.Weallexpectedourfoodtobesaf
WhichofthefollowingistrueaboutTrinityRoot?
A、Five.B、Fifteen.C、Twenty.D、Twenty-five.D
AlbertoBautista,30,isararityinSantaCruzMixtepec:ayoungadultmale.Mostofthesons,husbandsandbrothersfromthis
随机试题
螺旋气锚增加螺旋圈数、减少螺旋()都可以提高分气效率。
《尤利西斯》在结构写法上多处模拟的古代史诗是
盖尔顿和鲁奇认为,对传者的信息制作、加工产生较大影响的因素有哪些?
照射量的SI单位是
兰艺咖啡店是罗飞、王曼设立的普通合伙企业,合伙协议约定罗飞是合伙事务执行人且承担全部亏损。为扭转经营亏损局面,王曼将兰艺咖啡店加盟某知名品牌,并以合伙企业的名义向陈阳借款20万元支付了加盟费。陈阳现在要求还款。关于本案,下列哪一说法是正确的?(2016年卷
某工作有两项紧前工作a、b,其持续时间为a=3,b=4,其最早开始时间是a=5,b=6,则本工作的最早开始时间是()。
按照装饰装修专业工程规模标准,下列幕墙工程中属于中型规模的是()。
合同分析是从()的角度去分析、补充和解释合同的具体内容和要求。
投资者参与科创板股票交易的方式,不包括()。
梁某在路上遇见同村的丁某,询问丁某是否愿意购买其某辆摩托车,价格2000元,丁某当场未答复。次日,丁某找到粱某表示同意以2000元的价格购买该摩托车,梁某告知丁某该摩托车已卖给邻村的林某。根据合同法律制度的规定,丁某表示同意以2000元的价格购买该摩托车的
最新回复
(
0
)