——选自 Business Insider 网站（吉玛译）
You might have more control over aging than you think — here are 5 things you can do to slow it down.
你对衰老的控制远远比你想象的更多——你可以尝试通过下面五件事来减缓它。
Chromosome ends called telomeres prompt the aging process in cells.
染色体末端被称为端粒，它能够促进细胞衰老。
Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn says we have more control over our telomeres than we think.
诺贝尔奖获得者伊丽莎白·布莱克本说，我们对端粒的控制远远比我们想象的要多。
In her recent TED talk, she details some of the key ways people can live more healthful lives into old age.
在她最近的TED演讲中，她详细阐述了人们能够在老年时拥有更健康的生活的方法。
Aging: it's largely your chromosomes' fault. That’s what biologist Elizabeth Blackburn discovered when she started exploring the world of the invisible, threadlike cellular strands that carry our genetic code.
衰老: 主要归因于你的染色体。生物学家伊丽莎白·布莱克本在开始探索携带我们无形的、丝状细胞链的遗传密码时所发现的。
She revealed her decades-long process of discovery in a TED talk from April that was posted online this week.
本周发布的一篇TED演讲中，她透露了自己长达数十年的探索过程
In the talk, Blackburn detailed how the cells dividing and multiplying inside our bodies each carry chromosomes that are bookended by vitally-important caps called telomeres.
在报告中，布莱克本详细描述了细胞如何在我们体内分裂和繁殖，每个细胞都携带染色体，这些染色体都戴着被称为“端粒”的非常重要的“帽子”。
You can think of the DNA-strand tips “like the protective caps at the ends of your shoelace,” she said. And just like those shoelace ends, telomeres fray and wear over time. Eventually, telomeres get so short that they fall off. “It’s the overshortening of telomeres that leads us to feel and see signs of aging,” Blackburn said. "It sends a signal. Time to die."
你可以想象一下DNA链尖端，“就像你鞋带末端的保护罩一样，”她说。随着时间的推移， 就像那些鞋带末端，端粒会磨损和耗损。最后，端粒会变短，以致于它们会脱落。“端粒的过度缩短导致我们感觉并看见衰老的迹象，” 布莱克本说。“它发送一个信号。死期将至。”
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
但不一定非要这样。
Blackburn shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in medicine with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for discovering how telomeres, and an enzyme they named telomerase, can protect our chromosomes and make them last longer. Now thousands of studies based on that discovery are starting to shed light on simple ways we can control how short our telomeres get.
布莱克本2009年的诺贝尔医学奖中和卡罗尔·格瑞德及杰克·绍斯塔克分享了一项研究，该研究发现了端粒和一种叫做端粒酶的酶能够保护我们的染色体，使染色体持续更长时间。基于这项研究的基础上，现在成千上万的研究开始揭示我们可以控制端粒长度的简单方法。
Here are a few key things people can do to keep their telomeres long.
人们可以通过做以下一些的关键的事情来保持他们的端粒长度。
While these tips won't make you live forever, they can help with human “health span” — the number of years a person lives happily, and disease-free.
虽然这些建议不会让你长生不老，但它们可以帮助人类“健康寿命”——即一个人度过快乐、无病的一生。
Manage Stress
压力管理
The more chronically stressed we are, the shorter our telomeres become. Research conducted by Blackburn that focused on mothers caregiving for children with autism and other chronic conditions revealed that moms who were more resilient to stress — perceiving their situation as a challenge, rather than a stressor — kept their telomeres longer.
我们的长期压力越大，我们的端粒就变的越短。布莱克本以母亲照料患有自闭症和其他慢性疾病的孩子做了一项研究。研究显示，那些能够适应压力的妈妈们——把他们的处境看作是挑战，而不是压力——使他们的端粒更长。
“Attitude matters,” Blackburn says.“If you typically see something stressful as a challenge to betackled, then blood flows to your heart and to your brain, and you experience a brief but energizing spike of cortisol."
“态度问题”,布莱克本说。“如果你把压力当做是需要解决的挑战，那么血液就会流向你的心脏和你的大脑，你会经历一个短暂但活跃的皮质醇飙升的过程。”
Meditate
冥想
In case you haven’t heard enough about how great it can be to add meditation into your routine, here’s another way researchers have found it helps: Family members who meditated for as little as 12 minutes a day for two months while caring for a relative with dementia improved their telomere maintenance.
如果你听完这些还觉得不够好，你可以将冥想添加到你的日常生活中, 研究人员发现另一种有利方式:对于要照顾一个痴呆患者的家庭成员，为期两个月，如果他们每天冥想12分钟，这将会提高对端粒的维护。
Invest in your neighborhood
投资于你的邻居
“Emotional neglect, exposure to violence, bullying and racism all impact your telomeres, and the effects are long-term,” Blackburn said. Meanwhile, tight-knit communities can be good for telomere health.
布莱克本说:“情感上的忽视、暴力、欺凌和种族歧视都会影响你的端粒，而这些影响是长期的。”同时，紧密团结的社区有益于端粒健康
Get married and maintain lifelong friendships
结婚并保持终生的友谊
In a 2013 study of 298 adults ages 65-74, participants who were married were found to have longer telomeres. Long term friendships can also help telomere health, according to Blackburn.
2013年，针对年龄在65 - 74岁的298名成年人进行的一项研究，该研究发现，已婚人士的端粒较长。据布莱克本说，长期的友谊也可以帮助端粒的健康。
Make lots of money
赚很多钱
Money can't buy love, but apparently, it might buy some longer chromosomes. The same study that pointed to the benefits of marriage also reported that high income is associated with longer telomeres.
金钱买不到爱情，但很显然，它可能会使染色体更长。指出婚姻有益的研究同样认为，高收入与端粒的延长有关。
Watch Blackburn reveal her entire journey from pond scum explorer to Nobel Laureate here:
从布莱克本作为池塘浮渣探险家到诺贝尔奖得主的整个旅程可以看出:
Link:You might have more control over aging than you think