From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道。
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability. People with autism have trouble communicating and with social skills. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the person also might repeat some behaviors and not want change in their daily activities. Some people with the condition need a lot of help. Others need less.
自闭症谱系障碍是一种发育障碍。自闭症患者在沟通和社交能力上存在障碍。美国疾病控制和预防中心表示，患者还可能会重复某些行为，并且不希望改变他们的日常生活。有些患者需要大量帮助，还有些患者则不太需要帮助。
CDC officials say autism affects one in every 68 children in the United States. More boys than girls are believed to have the condition. But the number of cases appears to be growing. It is unclear whether the growing number shows a real increase or comes from more knowledge about this disorder.
美国疾病控制和预防中心表示，美国每68名儿童中就有一名儿童受自闭症影响。据认为这类患者中男孩比女孩多。但病例数似乎越来越多。目前尚不清楚这一数字增长是表明着患者确实增加，还是源自于对这种疾病认识的增长。
Symptoms of autism
自闭症的症状
Common signs of autism include trouble making eye contact and a delay in learning how to speak. Some people with severe autism never learn how to talk. Many people with autism also have difficulty understanding facial expressions and the feelings of others. They also have trouble making friends of the same age.
自闭症的常见症状包括眼神接触障碍以及学说话推迟。有些严重的自闭症患者从未学会说话。许多自闭症患者还很难理解面部表情和他人感受。他们在与同龄人交友上也存在障碍。
Doctors have learned how to recognize autism, but much is still unknown about its causes.
医生已经学会如何识别自闭症，但关于其成因尚有很多未知数。
Researchers at Harvard University have come closer to finding answers. They found that women exposed to the highest levels of fine particulate air pollution late in their pregnancies are two times more likely to give birth to a child with autism. The findings appeared in Environmental Health Perspectives -- a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
哈佛大学的研究人员已经接近于找到真相。他们发现，在怀孕后期暴露于高水平细颗粒物空气污染中的女性生下自闭症儿童的可能性翻了两倍。这一研究结果发表在美国环境健康科学研究所发行的《环境健康展望》(Environmental Health Perspectives)刊物上。
Marc Weisskopf led the Harvard researchers. Mr. Weisskopf studies environmental conditions that cause sickness, developmental disabilities and deaths. He and his team studied women who were late in their pregnancies, shortly before they gave birth. In all, they examined medical records from all 50 U.S. states for about 116,000 mothers and their children.
马克·韦斯科普夫（Marc Weisskopf）领导着这些哈佛研究人员。韦斯科普夫先生从事导致疾病、发育性残疾和死亡的环境状况方面的研究。他和他的团队研究了怀孕后期即将生产的女性。他们一共检查了来自美国50个州的11.6万份母婴医疗记录。
The study found that the women who were around high levels of fine particulate matter air pollution were at highest risk of having an autistic child. The increased risk of these women was two times that of women who lived in areas with low levels of fine particulate pollution.
研究发现，接触高水平细颗粒物空气污染的女性生下自闭症儿童的风险最高。与居住在低水平细颗粒物污染地区的女性相比，这些女性的风险增加了两倍。
The researchers found that the timing of exposure to pollution was important. They found no increased risk of autism in children whose mothers were around high levels of pollution before becoming pregnant. And the study found air pollution does not seem to increase the risk of children developing autism after they are born.
研究人员发现，暴露于污染的时机非常重要。他们发现，在怀孕前接触高污染的母亲生下自闭症儿童的风险没有增加。该研究还发现，空气污染似乎并未增加出生后儿童患上自闭症的风险。
Marc Weisskopf says this finding does not prove there is a direct link between pollution and autism. But, he adds, it has ratcheted up, or increased, his team's confidence that there is a relationship between the two.
韦斯科普夫表示，这一研究结果表并不能证明污染和自闭症之间有直接联系。但他补充道，该研究结果提升了他的团队对两者之间存在联系的信心。
"Finding an association like this that's very specific in time rules out a lot of other possible explanations for that. So, it really ratchets up the strength of our confidence that we've got something really related to the air pollution here."
他说，“找到这样一种时机非常具体的关联排除了其它很多可能的解释。所以，它增加了我们的信心，让我们相信我们已经找到一些确实涉及空气污染的东西。”
What can pregnant women do?
孕妇该怎么做呢？
Mr. Weisskopf says pregnant women should avoid air pollution as much as possible. But he warns that other things may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder.
韦斯科普夫先生表示，孕妇应该尽可能避免接触空气污染。但他警告说，其它情况也可能会增加自闭症谱系障碍的风险。
"You can avoid being in extremely polluted cities during pregnancy if possible. You can also choose to go running in a park rather than next to a street. But that said, I think also it's very important to recognize that autism spectrum disorders is a very multi-factorial disorder. And there are lots of reasons why risk could be increased."
他说，“如果可能，你可以避免在孕期置身于极度污染的城市。你也可以选择在公园而不是街道边跑步。话虽如此，我认为还得认识到，自闭症谱系障碍是一种非常多因素的疾病。可能增加患病风险的原因也非常多。”
Autism is believed to result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors.
据认为自闭症是环境和遗传因素两者的联合产物。
Autism Speaks is an organization that helps families with autistic children. Paul Wang is head of medical research at Autism Speaks. He says the findings are very compelling. He notes that during the last three months of pregnancy, the brain of the fetus develops very quickly. He says the study does not change his group's main suggestion: focus on treatment and educational therapies.
自闭症之声(Autism Speaks)是一家帮助自闭症儿童家庭的组织。保罗·王（Paul Wang）是自闭症之声的医学研究负责人。他说，这一研究结果非常引人注目。他指出，在孕期最后三个月，胎儿的脑部发育极快。他说，这项研究并未改变该组织的重要建议：专注于治疗和教育疗法。
"For parents of children who have already been diagnosed, the focus should continue to be on treatment for them, on the behavioral, educational therapies that are available and that we know can help kids who are diagnosed with autism."
他说，“对已经确诊儿童的父母来说，重点应该是继续对他们进行治疗，继续采用已有的行为和教育疗法，我们知道这些可以帮助被诊断患有自闭症的孩子。”
For now, Marc Weisskopf says researchers are trying to identify the exact substances in air pollution that increase the risk of autism.
韦斯科普夫表示，目前研究人员正在试图鉴定空气污染中会增加自闭症风险的确切物质。
And that's the Health and Lifestyle Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期美国之音健康和生活方式报道的全部内容。我是安娜·马特奥（Anna Matteo）。

本栏目视频字幕与文本并不完全对应，且视频播放缓冲时间较长，敬请谅解！