高跟鞋是女人的最爱，但是高跟鞋和关节炎之间究竟有没有联系呢？

    Millions of women could be risking arthritis in their knees by wearing high-heeled shoes, doctors have warned.

    医生们警告女人们：数百万喜欢穿高跟鞋的女性可能面临罹患关节炎的危险。

    Osteoarthritis of the knee is twice as common in women as it is in men--and the researchers suggested in an article in The Lancet medical journal that high heels might be the reason why.

    患骨关节炎的女性是男性的两倍。发表在《柳叶刀》医学期刊的一篇文章显示，高跟鞋可能就是诱发关节炎的原因。

    Researchers asked 20 healthy women with an average age of 36 to walk along a special platform in bare feet and then in shoes with two-and-a-half inch heels. Sensors under the platform, and cameras, recorded the movements of the women's ankle and knee joints.

    研究者让平均年龄为36岁的20名健康女性先后光脚和穿上2.5英寸的高跟鞋在一个特殊的平台上行走。平台下的传感器和照相机会记录她们运动时脚踝和膝关节的受力情况。

    The results showed that when the women were walking in high heels there was greater strain between the kneecap and thigh bone than when they walked with bare feet.

    研究结果显示：女性穿着高跟鞋行走时，膝盖骨和股骨受到的压力会比光脚行走的时候大。

    Walking in high heels increased the normal torque forces at the knee by an average of 23%, which imposed a greater stretching force through the lateral knee ligaments.

    穿高跟鞋让膝关节承受的压力平均增加了23%，膝盖韧带外侧承受了更大的压力。

    Ultimately, Dr. Kerrigan would like her research to lead to improved shoe design and answer specific questions such as "How high is too high?" or "What about wearing heels only for special occasions?" Says Dr. Kerrigan, who, incidentally, never wears heels: "As for wearing high heels, probably the more you wear heels, the more likely you'll develop arthritis. My advice is don't wear heels."

    最后，克里根教授希望她的上述研究可以改进鞋子的设计。她还回答了一些具体的提问，诸如“多高的高跟鞋算高？”，“仅在特殊场合穿着高跟鞋好不好？”。从未穿过高跟鞋的克里根回答：“关于穿高跟鞋这件事，很可能你穿得时间越久，你就越容易得关节炎。我的建议就是——不要穿高跟鞋。”