因为饮食不良而失明?吃薯条最多的青少年失明了

A 14-year-old boy goes to the doctor with complaints of tiredness. He's an extremely picky eater. (Think a daily diet of French fries, plus snacking on Pringles potato chips, white bread and some processed pork.) But overall, he appears OK. He's not overweight and takes no medications.
一个疲倦的14岁男孩带着抱怨去看医生。他是个非常挑食的人。(想想每天吃炸薯条，外加品客薯片、白面包和一些加工过的猪肉。)但总的来说，他看起来还不错。他没有超重，也没有吃药。
Tests show he has low levels of vitamin B12 and anemia, so he's given B12 injections and diet advice. But a year later, he has begun to lose his vision. Then, by age 17, he's legally blind.
测试显示，他的维生素B12和贫血水平较低，因此他接受了B12注射和饮食建议。但一年后，他开始失去视力。17岁时，他失明了。 Turns out, the boy's highly limited daily diet — lacking in healthy foods, vitamins and minerals — had led to optic neuropathy. That's the conclusion of researchers from the University of Bristol in England, who have published a case study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
原来，这个男孩的日常饮食非常有限——缺乏健康的食物、维生素和矿物质——导致了视神经病变。这是英国布里斯托尔大学的研究人员得出的结论，他们在《内科医学年鉴》上发表了一项研究案例。
"This case highlights the impact of diet on visual and physical health, and the fact that calorie intake and BMI are not reliable indicators of nutritional status," Dr. Denize Atan, the study's lead author and a consultant senior lecturer in Ophthalmology at Bristol Medical School, said in a statement.Not everyone is convinced by the case study.
“这个案例强调了饮食对视觉和身体健康的影响，而卡路里摄入量和BMI并不是营养状况的可靠指标，”该研究的主要作者、布里斯托尔医学院眼科高级顾问讲师丹尼泽·阿坦博士在一份声明中说。并不是每个人都相信这个研究案例。
"It's intriguing," say Allen Taylor, the director of the Nutrition and Vision Laboratoryat the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts. "But it's important to remember it's a study of only one case, with very limited information in it," Taylor says.
“这很有趣，”美国农业部塔夫茨大学人类衰老营养研究中心营养与视觉实验室主任艾伦·泰勒说。“但重要的是要记住，这只是一个案例的研究，其中的信息非常有限，”泰勒说。
Taylor says he'd like to know more about how the teen ended up with permanent vision loss, given that optic neuropathy is very uncommon and usually temporary.
泰勒说，考虑到视神经病变非常罕见，而且通常是暂时性的，他想知道更多关于这个青少年最终是如何永久性失明的。
But he says the case study could serve as a wake-up call to remind people of the importance of good nutrition.
但他表示，该案例研究可以作为一个警钟，提醒人们注意良好营养的重要性。
"There is, absolutely, a link between poor diet and vision loss," Taylor explains. But, he says usually, people don't develop symptoms until much later in life.
泰勒解释说:“毫无疑问，不良的饮食习惯和视力下降之间存在联系。”但是，他说，通常直到很晚的时候人们才会出现这种症状。
He points to a study he and his collaborators published back in 2014, which found that poor-quality diets can increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration. This can lead to blurry vision and can make reading more difficult. It usually occurs after age 60.
他指出，他和他的合作者在2014年发表的一项研究发现，低质量的饮食会增加年龄相关性黄斑变性的风险。这会导致视力模糊，使阅读更加困难。通常发生在60岁以后。
"Conversely, the more one subscribes to a diet rich in fruits and veggies, whole grains, the less the risk for AMD," Taylor says.
泰勒说:“相反，一个人的饮食中富含水果和蔬菜，全谷物，患老年性黄斑变性的风险就越低。” People in Taylor's study who consumed plenty of vegetables, legumes, fruits, whole grains, tomatoes and seafood had a lower risk of developing AMD. On the other hand, people who consumed a diet rich in red meat, processed meat, high-fat dairy products, French fries and refined grains had a higher risk of developing the condition.
在泰勒的研究中，食用大量蔬菜、豆类、水果、全谷物、西红柿和海鲜的人患AMD的风险较低。另一方面，饮食中富含红肉、加工肉类、高脂肪乳制品、炸薯条和精制谷物的人患这种疾病的风险更高。
Taylor says it's important to note that the quality of the carbohydrates you eat really does seem to matter.
泰勒说，重要的是要注意你吃的碳水化合物的质量似乎真的很重要。
Consuming a lot of refined carbohydrates, including foods such as white bread, chips, crackers and sweets, is linked to a higher risk of developing AMD and some forms of cataracts. Taylor and his collaborators are trying to understand how refined carbohydrates may inflict damage on the cells within our eyes and bodies.
摄入大量精制碳水化合物，包括白面包、薯片、饼干和糖果等食物，会增加患AMD和某些白内障的风险。泰勒和他的合作者正试图了解精制碳水化合物是如何对我们眼睛和身体内的细胞造成损害的。