Nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide ─ or 1 in 4 people ─ will be living with some degree of hearing loss by 2050, warns the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first World Report on Hearing, released Tuesday. At least 700 million of these people will require access to ear and hearing care and other rehabilitation services unless action is taken.

世界衛生組織週二發布的第一份《世界聽力報告》警告說，到2050年全球將有25億人（即4分之1人口）出現某種程度的聽力受損，如果不採取行動，至少7億人將需要接受耳朵及聽力護理和其他康復服務。

"Our ability to hear is precious. Untreated hearing loss can have a devastating impact on people’s ability to communicate, to study and to earn a living. It can also impact on people’s mental health and their ability to sustain relationships," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

世衛秘書長譚德塞博士說：「我們的聽力彌足珍貴，聽力受損得不到治療會對人們的交流、學習和謀生能力造成破壞性的影響，還會影響人們的心理健康和維持人際關係的能力。」

Investment in ear and hearing care has been shown to be cost-effective: WHO calculates that governments can expect a return of nearly $16 for every $1 invested.

在耳朵和聽力保健方面的投資已被證明具有成本效益：據世衛估算，各國政府每投資1美元，就能獲得近16美元的回報。

Certain Junk Foods Could Be Messing With Your Brain’s Appetite Control 某些垃圾食物可能擾亂大腦的食慾控制

Emerging evidence in humans suggests a typically Western high-fat, high-sugar ’junk food’ diet can quickly undermine your brain’s appetite control.

在人類中新發現的證據顯示，含有高脂高糖「垃圾食物」的典型西方飲食，可以快速破壞大腦對食慾的控制。

After indulging in a week-long binge of waffles, milkshakes and similarly rich foods, researchers in Australia found young and healthy volunteers scored worse on memory tests and experienced a greater desire to eat junk food, even when they were already full.

狂吃鬆餅、奶昔和類似的高脂食物一週後，澳洲研究人員發現，年輕健康的志願者在記憶力測試中成績欠佳，而且對垃圾食物更有食慾，甚至在吃飽之後還想吃。

The findings suggest something is amiss in the hippocampus - a region of the brain that supports memory and helps to regulate appetite. When we are full, the hippocampus is thought to quieten down our memories of delicious food, thereby reducing our appetite.

研究結果顯示問題出在海馬體，這個區域在大腦中支援記憶力，協助調節食慾。我們吃飽之後，海馬體被認為會使美食記憶不再活躍，從而降低食慾。

When it’s disrupted, this control can be seriously undermined.

當海馬體受到擾亂，對食慾的控制也會受到嚴重破壞。

Over the years, extensive research on juvenile mice has found the function of the hippocampus is very sensitive to ’junk food’ , but this has only recently been observed in young and healthy humans.

近年來對幼鼠進行的廣泛研究發現，海馬體對「垃圾食物」很敏感，但最近才在年輕健康的人群中發現這一問題。

Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1438641 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1368761

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