美國專家:皺紋多的中年女性更易骨折
光是眼睜睜的看着歲月流逝，並在你的花容上留下痕跡已經是一件讓人惱火但又百般無奈的事了。
But now scientists have warned women with wrinklier skin are more likely to have brittle bones.
不過科學家們警告，皮膚皺紋越多的女性更容易出現骨質密度過低的情況。
The condition would raise their odds of suffering from osteoporosis and painful, hard-to-heal breaks and fractures as they age.
這也就意味着，隨着年歲的增加，這些女性更傾向於患上骨質酥鬆症，並且將備受其折磨，而要治癒和恢復到正常水平便更加困難。
But there is some good news, too. In the future, diagnosing brittle bones could be as simple as looking someone in the face.
不過還有一些好的消息要告訴大家，在不久的將來，診斷骨質密度過低可能只需簡單的看看某人的面容。
Researchers from the Yale School of Medicine in the U.S. studied 114 women in their late 40s and early 50s who had recently gone through the menopause, excluding those who had used Botox or other cosmetic procedures to smooth out their furrows.
美國耶魯大學醫學院的研究者們調查了114名年齡介於四十歲到五十歲出頭的女性，其中包括了曾經注射過肉毒桿菌和使用過化妝品撫平皺紋的女性，她們正經歷着更年期。
The researchers then counted the number of wrinkles at 11 points on the test subjects’ faces and necks, and measured their depth.
然後研究者們計算了這些女性的面部和脖頸的11個受測點上的皺紋數量以及皺紋深度。
They also noted the firmness of the skin on the women’s foreheads and cheeks, and used X-rays to measure the density of their bones.
研究者還特別留意了女性們前額以及臉頰皮膚的緊實度，並且運用X光測量了骨質的密度。
Those with the worst wrinkles also had the weakest bones, the Endocrine Society’s annual conference heard in Boston – and it wasn’t simply the case that older women were in worse condition, inside and out.
耶魯大學的學者們在波士頓所舉行的美國內分泌學會年會上公佈上述研究結果，稱皺紋越深越明顯的女性的骨質密度也越低，但這並不是因爲年糕的女性骨質的狀況就越差這麼簡單。
Researcher Lubna Pal, an expert in sex hormones, said: ‘We found that deepening and worsening skin wrinkles are related to lower bone density among the study participants.
研究者Lubna Pal是一位性激素方面的專家，他說：“我們發現，在受測者中，皮膚皺紋的加深與惡化與骨質密度的下降間有所聯繫。”
‘The worse the wrinkles, the lesser the bone density, and this relationship was independent of age, or of factors known to influence bone mass.’
“皺紋越明顯，骨質密度就越低，造成這一現象的因素並非是年齡的增長，或者是那些已知的會影響骨骼情況的因素。”
Dr Pal added: ‘Although the connection between bones and skin may seem unclear, they share common building blocks – collagens.
Pal博士還說：“儘管骨骼與皮膚之間的聯繫似乎並不明顯，不過它們都共同 有着同一種元素——膠原蛋白。”
‘As we age, changes in collagen occur that account for age-related skin changes, including worsening skin wrinkles and sagging skin.
“隨着年歲的增長，膠原蛋白的流逝會造成皮膚的老化，這包括了皺紋越發顯現，並變得更加鬆弛。”
‘They also contribute to deterioration in bone quality and quantity.
“同時還會造成骨質密度的下降。”
‘Ultimately, we want to know if intensity of skin wrinkles can allow identification of women who are more likely to fracture a bone, especially the hip, an often fatal injury in older people.’
“最後，我們想知道的是，骨質密度的下降是否會讓女性更容易發生骨折的情況，由其是臀部部位，這是經常發生在老年人身上的骨折情況。”
Dr Pal stressed the importance of the research, saying: ‘Our findings – that the appearance and physical properties of the skin can reflect the quality of the skeleton – are noteworthy because this may allow clinicians to identify fracture risk in post-menopausal women at a glance without depending on costly tests.’
Pal博士在提到該研究的重要性時，說：“我們的發現，也就是皮膚的外觀以及物理性質可以反映骨骼的質量，這點應該引起大家的注意，因爲這或許可以幫助臨牀醫師判斷更年期女性出現骨折的風險，並免去了昂貴的檢測。”
Previous research has linked the rate of wrinkling to age, with our 20s and 40s being the prime time for crinkles and creases to appear.
之前的研究發現，皺紋的出現於年齡直接掛鉤，在我們二十多歲和四十多歲時，是皺紋出現的頻繁時期。
A 20-year-old can expect to have 56 per cent more wrinkles by the time she is 28, while one aged 40 can expect a 73 per cent rise in wrinkles by the age of 48.
在28歲時，56%的皮膚可能出現皺紋，而在48歲時，73的皮膚會出現皺紋。
Older women, however, can relax. After the age of 60 or 70, few new lines appear.
對於上了年紀的女性，在度過了60到70歲之後，皺紋出現的情況將減少。
