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Pushing yourself is harder if you are a woman over the age of 50.
女人一旦上了50岁以后，要想再严格要求自己锻炼身体，这难度就大了。
"I would rather sit on the couch at home and watch re-runs."
“我宁愿往家里沙发上一靠，看两集重播。”
"I would run on the treadmill maybe for, like, two, three minutes and then I would walk two, three minutes. Now it's down to one or two minutes."
“我基本上在跑步机上跑个两三分钟之后就会走两三分钟，现在更少了，也就一两分钟。”
Physical activities seem to decrease for women entering menopause.Researchers at the University of Missouri have identified a link between estrogen and dopamine levels in the brain.
正在步入更年期的女性似乎体育锻炼都会减少。密苏里大学的研究人员发现，雌激素和大脑当中多巴胺的水平之间有着某种联系。
As women age, their ovaries produce less estrogen. Assistant professor Victoria Vieira-Potter believes the loss of estrogen in postmenopausal women leads to a drop in dopamine, a chemical that sends signals to the pleasure or reward center in the brain. The result, older women are more likely to gain weight even if they are not eating more. And that puts them at risk for heart disease and diabetes.
随着年龄的增长，女性卵巢所产生的雌激素会逐渐减少。助理教授维多利亚•波特认为，女性绝经之后，体内的雌激素会相应减少，从而导致多巴胺水平降低，多巴胺是一种向快感中枢和奖赏中枢传递信号的化学物质。以上过程最终导致的结果是，老年妇女即使饭量没有增加，可体重却会上升。并增加患心脏病和糖尿病的风险。
"They are not consuming more calories, but rather, there is just a very small drop in physical activity that happens that is not their fault. They are actually changes that might occur in the brain that drive this reduce to motivation to be physically active."
“她们本身摄取的卡路里没有增多，体育锻炼也只是减少了一点，而且活动减少并不是她们的错。它们实际上就是大脑当中产生的一些变化，这些变化导致老年妇女身体活动积极性降低。”
Other scientists involved in this research are looking at other reasons why older women may be less interested in being physically active. One group is looking at muscles that support the bladder and rectum, the pelvic floor, Dawn Lowe spoke to VOA by Skype.
另外一些参与这次研究的科学家们也在调查其他原因，希望能弄明白为什么老年妇女对体育锻炼都兴致索然。一个小组把目光放在了支撑膀胱和直肠的肌肉部分，也就是骨盆底肌群。Dawn Lowe通过Skype接受了VOA的采访。
"We think about leg muscles becoming weaker with age in men and women, but the pelvic floor is also a muscle. So there is growing evidence that that muscle essentially becomes weak with age as well. There's growing evidence that, particularly in women, estrogen can affect how muscle works."
“我们在想，随着年龄的增长，男女的腿部肌肉都会变弱，而骨盆底也是肌肉。因此有越来越多的证据表明，骨盆底肌群也在随着年龄增长而不断变弱。另外越来越的证据也表明，雌激素会影响肌肉的运作，这种现象在女性当中尤为明显。”
A drop in estrogen could mean a woman loses some control over her bladder or bowel, particularly when she's exercising. Scientists are finding this is another reason older women don't exercise.
雌激素水平下降就意味着女性不能完全控制自己的膀胱和肠道，尤其是在锻炼的时候更加明显。科学家们认为，这可能是老年妇女不锻炼的另一个原因。
Lowe says over the next several years, we can expect to learn a lot about women's health and how it changes through the menopausal years.
Lowe表示，在接下来的几年里，我们可以了解到更多关于女性健康的问题，还可以观察到女性在更年期时健康水平的变化。
Carol Pearson, VOA news, Washington.
VOA新闻，卡洛•皮尔森于华盛顿为您播报。
