Go ahead, try it. Look straight ahead, place one foot behind the other and then balance on that one foot. Did you topple in less than 10 seconds? If so, your days may be numbered — at least that's what the data from a new study published online this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests.

来吧，试试看。眼睛直视前方，将一只脚放在另一脚后面，然后保持平衡。你是不是坚持不到10秒？如果是的话，那么你的寿命可能不会太长-至少本周在《英国运动医学期刊》在线发表的一项新研究是这么说的。

So, if you can't, is it really something you should worry about? That depends on several factors, the researchers say.

如果你无法做到上面的动作，那么有什么需要注意的吗？这取决于以下几个要素，研究人员表示。

Why Was the Study Conducted?

为什么要开展这项研究？

As we approach our 40s, we gradually lose aerobic fitness, muscle strength and flexibility. But our balance remains relatively stable, so to speak, until we reach our sixth decade. And then our balance starts to go downhill rather quickly.

随着我们迈向40岁，我们的有氧体能、肌肉力量以及灵活性都会逐渐减弱。但是，我们的平衡性还是会保持相对稳定。也就是说，我们的平衡性可以保持到60岁。随后，我们的平衡性开始快速走向下坡路。

aerobic fitness：有氧适能（是指身体在锻炼时能够消耗的最大氧气量。有氧适能水平是整体身体健康情况的重要指标，也是长期健康情况的预测指标）

Without good balance, people can fall. According to the National Institute on Aging, more than one in three people 65 years of age or older falls each year. Aging also makes bones more brittle, which means they are more prone to breaking when falls do occur. Yet, balance assessments aren't generally included in routine physicals or wellness checks. A group of researchers set out to find whether testing a person's balance might be a reliable indicator of a person's risk of death over the next decade.

缺乏良好的平衡性，人们就会摔跤。根据美国国家衰老研究所，在年龄为65岁及以上的老年人群中，每年每三位老人中就会有超过一名老人摔倒。年老也会导致骨头变脆，这意味着当摔倒时，更容易发生骨折。但是，常规的体检或健康检查中一般都不会有平衡性评估。研究人员团队开始着手研究，一个人的平衡能力检测是否可以成为检测未来10年死亡风险的一个可靠指标。

What Did the Study Involve?

研究都包括哪些内容？

The study relied on people who had enrolled in the CLINIMEX Exercise cohort study (set up in 1994), which assessed the relationships between measures of physical fitness, variations in exercise and cardiovascular risk factors with morbidity (disease) and mortality (death). The study also collected data such as weight, skin fold thickness and waist size along with a medical history. Participants were asked to stand on one leg for 10 seconds without support.

研究对象为报名参加CLINIMEX Exercise群组研究（于1994年设立）的人们，研究评估了体能测量结果、练习变化和心血管风险因素与致病率（疾病）和死亡率（死亡）之间的关系。研究还收集了诸如体重、皮肤褶皱厚度以及腰围和服药史方面的数据。参与者被要求在没有任何支撑的情况下单脚站立10秒钟。

The scientists narrowed the field of participants to those who were 51 to 75 years old at the time of their first CLINIMEX checkup, between Feb. 2009 and Dec. 2020. They also culled out those with an unstable gait, leaving a total of 1,702 participants, 68 percent of whom were men.

科学家们将参与人群细化为在2009年2月和2020年12月之间首次参加CLINIMEX检查时年龄在51岁到75岁的人群。 他们还淘汰了一些步态不稳的参与者，最后留下1702名参与者，其中男性占比为68%。

The balance assessment was also standardized. Participants were asked to put the front of their free foot behind their standing leg and keep their arms by their sides and their gaze fixed straight ahead. Each volunteer was given three attempts on either foot to nail the test.

平衡评估也采取标准化。参与者们被要求将自由挪动的一只脚的前侧放在站立的一条腿的后侧并将两臂放在身体两侧，同时眼睛注视前方。每位参与者都会有三次采取任何一只脚进行站立的机会。

What Did the Researchers Find?

研究人员获得哪些结果？

The results showed that 20.5 percent of participants failed the balance assessment and that the likelihood of failing roughly doubled at every five-year increment from the age of 51-55 onwards.

结果显示，20.5%的参与者没有通过平衡评估，而从51-55岁开始每过5年，失败的可能性大约翻倍。

The percentage of each age group that failed the tests is as follows:

每个年龄段评估失败的占比为：

· 5 percent among the 51-55 age group

· 51-55岁年龄组为5%

· 8 percent among the 56-60 age group

· 56-60岁年龄组为8%

· Slightly less than 18 percent among the 61-65 age group

· 61-65岁年龄组略微少于18%

· Nearly 37 percent among the 66-70 age group

· 66-70岁年龄组大约为37%

· 54 percent among the 71-75 age group

· 71-75岁年龄组为54%

This means that the risk of falling among the 71-75 age group was 11 times greater than the 51-55 age group.

这意味着，71-75岁年龄组摔倒的风险是51-55岁年龄组的11倍。

But the real shocker came when the researchers saw that the proportion of deaths among those who failed the test compared to those who passed was significantly higher — 17.5 percent compared to 4.5 percent, a difference of nearly 13 percent. (The median follow-up period was seven years.)

但是，更加令人震惊的事实是研究人员发现，评估失败的人群的死亡率要比通过评估的人群的死亡率高很多-分别17.5 与4.5%，相差将近13%（平均随访期为7年。）

It should be noted that those who failed the balance assessment were also in poorer health and had conditions such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and unhealthy blood fat profiles. Those who failed the test who also had type 2 diabetes were also three times (38 percent) more likely to die than those who failed the test who did not have diabetes (13 percent).

应该注意到的是，那些没有通过排评估的人健康程度更差并且有肥胖、心脏病、高血压和血脂不健康的情况。那些没有通过测试并且还有II型糖尿病的人的死亡率是没有通过测试，但同时也没有糖尿病的人的3倍。

After accounting for age, sex and other underlying conditions, researchers concluded that older people who are unable to stand on one leg for 10 seconds had an 84 percent increased risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years. That's almost double the risk of those who could perform this exercise.

通过考虑年龄、性别和其他潜在情况，研究人员得出结论，无法单腿站立10秒的老年人其由于任何原因所出现的死亡风险要增加84%。这几乎是能够完成练习的人群的死亡风险的2倍。

Am I Going to Die Because I Failed a Balance Assessment?

如果我没有通过平衡测试评估，我会面临死亡吗？

Before you start getting your financial affairs in order, keep in mind that this study has some limitations. For one, it's an observational study, so cause-and-effect cannot be established. Furthermore, all participants were white Brazilians. The results may not be the same among participants from other ethnicities and nations, the researchers cautioned. Plus, the study didn't consider other possible factors among volunteers that could impact balance such as a history of falls, physical activity levels, smoking and drugs.

在开始将您的财务情况理顺之前，您需要了解，该研究也存在局限性。首先，这是一项观察性研究，因此还无法确定因果关系。此外，所有的参与人员都是巴西白人。结果在其他的种族和国家之间可能会存在差异。再就是，研究并没有将其他可能存在的因素纳入考虑范围，比如摔跤史、身体活动等级、吸烟和服药情况。

Regardless, the researchers wrote that adding a balance assessment to routine wellness checks for middle-aged and older adults could be "a useful complement."

无论如何，研究人员写到，在中年和老年群体的健康检查中加入平衡评估也许是一个非常有用的补充。

Source：HowStuffWorks

翻译&编辑：上海译锐翻译