Taking fish oil during pregnancy could lower child’s asthma risk 懷孕時攝取魚油可降低孩童罹患氣喘風險

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. asthma n. 氣喘 

2. placebo n. 安慰劑 

3. wheeze v. 喘鳴 

4. incidence [of a disease] n.發病率 

5. inflammation n.發炎 

Women who took fish oil during the last three months of pregnancy significantly lowered the risk that their children would develop asthma, a study in Denmark has found.

Among children whose mothers took fish-oil capsules, 16.9 percent had asthma by age three, compared with 23.7 percent whose mothers were given placebos. The difference, nearly 7 percentage points, translates to a risk reduction of about 31 percent.

But in the study released on Dec. 28 last year, the researchers say they are not ready to recommend that pregnant women routinely take fish oil.

Before doctors can make any recommendations, the study should be replicated, and fish oil should be tested earlier in pregnancy and at different doses.

Doctors are eager to find ways to prevent asthma, a chronic disease that causes wheezing, coughing and breathing trouble, and that sends many families to the emergency room again and again.

The incidence has more than doubled in developed countries in recent decades.

Previous research had suggested that fish oil might help prevent asthma. The idea is plausible, because inflammation in the airways and lungs plays a major role in asthma, and fatty acids in fish oil are thought to prevent inflammation. The richest sources in food include fish like herring, sardines, mackerel, eel and salmon.

■ This article is an edited version of a piece that originally appeared in the New York Times

(New York Times / Denise Grady)

一項丹麥的研究發現，婦女在懷孕後期三個月攝取魚油可顯著降低孩童未來罹患氣喘之風險。

母親懷孕時服用魚油膠囊的孩童有百分之十六點九在三歲前罹患氣喘；而對照組母親懷孕時服用安慰劑的孩童，罹患氣喘的機率則為百分之二十三點七。其近七個百分點的差異，可換算出服用魚油將使罹患氣喘之風險減少約百分之三十一。

但在這份去年十二月二十八日發表的報告中，研究人員說他們尚不會建議懷孕婦女定期攝取魚油。

在醫師做出任何建議之前，研究應再經多次實驗驗證，並且應就懷孕較早期和不同劑量的變數再做測試。醫師亟欲找出預防氣喘之道。氣喘是一種會造成喘鳴、咳嗽和呼吸困難的慢性疾病，並造成許多家庭不斷出入急診室。

在近幾十年中氣喘在已開發國家的發病率已增加了一倍以上。

先前已有研究顯示魚油可能有助於預防氣喘，這看來是很合理的，因為氣管及肺部的發炎是造成氣喘的主要原因，而魚油中的脂肪酸則可預防發炎。最富含魚油的攝取來源包括鯡魚、沙丁、鯖魚、鰻魚、鮭魚等魚類。

■ 本文為編輯後的版本，原文已於紐約時報刊登。

（台北時報編譯林俐凱譯）

Traditional Lunar New Year celebrations: Vietnam 越南慶祝春節的傳統

There is no cat in the Chinese zodiac. There is one in the Vietnamese one, though. Vietnam inherited the zodiac and the lunar calendar from the Chinese, who ruled it for a millennium a millennium ago. They replaced the rabbit with a cat.

The Vietnamese believe there are 12 sacred animals from the zodiac, and these take turns supervising earthly affairs. Lunar New Year’s eve sees the animal overseeing the old year end its term and hand the baton to the new animal. This year, for the Vietnamese — as for the Taiwanese — is the Year of the Rooster.

Although Vietnam has followed the Gregorian calendar since 1954, the traditional lunisolar calendar, mostly based on the Chinese lunar calendar, is still used to observe lunisolar holidays and commemorations, Tet being one of them.

Tet Nguyen Dan — Tet for short — is Sino-Vietnamese for “Feast of the First Morning of the First Day”. It is Vietnamese New Year’s Day, falling this year on Jan. 28, the arrival of spring, and the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The final day of the old year is about preparing food to offer to the ancestors. The actual dishes differ, depending on the climates of the northern, central and southern parts of the country.

The Vietnamese also believe that the new year’s first visitor determines the fortunes of the family for that year. It is very important that you don’t visit a family on that day unless invited. Sometimes, the owner of the house pops outside a few minutes before the clock strikes the midnight hour, and then returns a few minutes into the new year. That way, the year’s first visitor is at least presentable.

(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

Chinese zodiac n. phr. 生肖

sacred adj.神聖

hand the baton to v. phr.交棒給

lunar/solar calendar n. phr.

陰陽曆

feast n.盛宴

中國的生肖裡沒有貓，但是在越南的生肖中卻有貓。越南曾受中國統治了一千年，直到一千年前才擺脫中國統治。越南繼承了中國的十二生肖和農曆，但他們用貓取代了兔子。

越南人相信黃道十二宮有十二個神聖的動物，這些動物輪流掌管人間事務。在除夕夜送走掌管舊年的動物，並交棒給下一任動物。今年越南和台灣一樣是雞年。

雖然越南自一九五四年起便改採公曆，但其主要本於中國農曆的傳統陰陽曆，仍然用來過節日和紀念日，Tet便是其中之一。

Tet Nguyen Dan- — 簡稱Tet — 在越語中意謂「第一天的第一早的盛宴」。今年一月二十八日是越南的春節，是慶祝春天的到來，也是越南文化中最重要的慶典。越南人在舊年的最後一天準備食物來供奉祖先。實際上供奉的菜餚則根據國家北、中、南部各地的氣候而有所不同。

越南人也相信，新年的第一個訪客決定了那一年家裡的運氣。所以請千萬記住，除非你受到邀請，否則不要在新年的第一天到訪一戶人家。有時屋主在午夜前幾分鐘出門，然後在時針超過午夜幾分鐘後再回到家。這樣，今年第一位來訪的起碼是個像樣的人。（台北時報編譯林俐凱譯）

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