From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
Many people who drink alcohol also like to smoke cigarettes. Drinking and smoking seem to be closely linked. Some people might even say they go together hand-in-hand.
许多喜欢喝酒的人也喜欢抽烟。喝酒和吸烟似乎是紧密相连的。有些人甚至会说，烟酒不分家。
But this may be more than just a mixing of two fairly common activities.
但是这可能远远甚于两种相当普遍的活动的简单叠加。
New research has looked more closely at the relationship between cigarettes and alcohol. And the relationship is one of equal dependence. Smoking and drinking seem to feed on each other.
新的研究更深入地研究了香烟和酒精之间的关系。这种关系是一种彼此依赖的关系。吸烟和喝酒似乎彼此滋养。
These are the exact words of Mahesh Thakkar. He is head of research in the Department of Neurology at the University of Missouri's School of Medicine.
这是马哈斯·塔迦尔（Mahesh Thakkar）的原话。他是密苏里大学医学院神经内科的研究负责人。
Thakkar explains that when a person drinks alcohol they get sleepy. He says a drug in cigarettes fights that sleepy feeling. That drug, nicotine, can be addictive; smokers need more cigarettes because of their body's growing dependence on the drug.
塔迦尔先生解释说，当一个人饮酒时，他们会昏昏欲睡。香烟中的一种药物能抵抗这种困倦感，这种药物就是尼古丁。尼古丁能够让人上瘾。吸烟者需要吸更多烟，因为他们的身体对这种药物产生了依赖性。
So, if a person smokes, then he or she is much more likely to drink alcohol, and vice versa. Thakkar says, "They feed off one another."
所以，如果一个人吸烟，那么他（她）就很可能喝酒，反之亦然。塔迦尔先生说，“这两者彼此促进”。
Researchers already knew that people who use alcohol often smoke. In fact, earlier research shows that more than 85 percent of alcohol-dependent American adults also depend on nicotine.
研究人员早就知道，喝酒者大多吸烟。实际上，早期的研究表明，85%以上依赖酒精的美国成年人也依赖尼古丁。
Thakkar's earlier research showed that nicotine combined with alcohol stimulates what he calls the "reward center" of the brain. However, the new study shows a dependent relationship between the substances.
塔迦尔先生早期的研究表明，尼古丁结合酒精会刺激他所谓的大脑“奖励中心”。然而，新的研究表明这两种物质存在彼此依赖的关系。
Thakkar says his team "found that nicotine weakens" the sleep-causing effects of alcohol. It does this by activating an area of the brain called the basal forebrain. According to the Psychology Definition website, that area is responsible for memory, learning and attention.
塔迦尔先生表示，他的研究小组发现，尼古丁会削弱酒精导致的睡眠效果。它通过激活大脑一处被称之为基底前脑的区域来实现这点。根据《心理学定义 Psychology Definition》网站的描述，该区域负责记忆、学习和注意力。
For this new experiment, Thakkar and his team used equipment that measures brain activity in rats. They injected the rats with both nicotine and alcohol, and then studied brain activity in the animals as they slept. The researchers found that nicotine goes through the basal forebrain and cancels out the sleep-causing effects of alcohol.
塔迦尔先生和他的研究小组在这项新的实验中用到了测量老鼠脑部活动的仪器。他们给老鼠同时注射了尼古丁和酒精，然后研究这种动物睡着时的脑部活动。研究人员发现，尼古丁穿过前脑基底，抵消了酒精导致的睡眠效果。
So, why is this new research important?
那么，这项研究为何很重要呢？
The World Health Organization says 7 million people die every year from alcohol and nicotine use.
世界卫生组织表示，每年有7百万人死于酒精和尼古丁的摄入。
Mahesh Thakker and his team identified why alcohol use and smoking are often linked. He says this knowledge may help people break their addictions to alcohol and nicotine.
塔迦尔先生和他的研究小组确定了为何喝酒和吸烟通常联系在一起。他说，这方面的知识可以帮助人们打破对酒精和尼古丁的沉迷。
The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Neurochemistry.
研究人员在《神经化学》杂志上发表了他们的研究结果。
I'm Anna Matteo.
我是安娜·马特奥。

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