Bicycle riding is a great way to keep fit and healthy. It is good for our heartand our mental1 health. It also helps to keep our weight2 down. It is a little-knownsurprise that bicycle riding is good for our knees. A new study says people oftenriding a bicycle have less knee pain3 when they get older.

騎自行車是保持健康的好方法。騎自行車對我們的心臟和精神健康有好處，也有利于減輕我們的體重。騎自行車對我們的膝蓋有好處，這是一個鮮為人知的驚喜。一項新的研究表明，經(jīng)常騎自行車的人年老時膝蓋疼痛會減輕。

Researchers4 from Baylor College of Medicine in the USA did the study.They looked at 2，600 men and women， with an average5 age of 64. They askedthe people about their levels6 of sports activity. They also took X -rays7 of thepeople’s knees. The researchers checked the X-rays to look for signs8 ofarthritis9 in the knees.

美國貝勒醫(yī)學(xué)院的研究人員進行了這項研究。他們調(diào)查了2600 名平均年齡為64 歲的男性和女性。他們詢問這些人的體育活動水平，還對他們的膝蓋進行了X 光檢查。這些研究人員檢查X 光片是為了尋找膝蓋關(guān)節(jié)炎的癥狀。

Researcher Dr. Grace Lo was surprised by what they found. She said peopleoften riding a bicycle were 21% less likely10 to have a joint11 problem in their kneescalled osteoarthritis12. This is often called “wear-and-tear”arthritis. It is usual tosee in our daily life. She added， she was surprised to see how much good riding abicycle could do. This happens when we use our joints a lot. The joints wear out andstart to feel pain.

研究員格雷絲·洛醫(yī)生對他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)感到驚訝。她說，經(jīng)常騎自行車的人患膝關(guān)節(jié)骨關(guān)節(jié)炎的可能性降低了21%。這通常被稱為“磨損性”關(guān)節(jié)炎，在我們?nèi)粘Ｉ钪泻艹Ｒ姟Ｋa充說，發(fā)現(xiàn)騎自行車能有這么多好處讓她很驚訝。當我們過度使用關(guān)節(jié)時，就會得磨損性關(guān)節(jié)炎。關(guān)節(jié)被磨損過度，人就開始感到疼痛。

Osteoarthritis usually starts when people are in their fifties. Dr. Lo said riding abicycle was a great way of stopping arthritis. A lot of studies shows that people oftenriding a bicycle are about 20% less likely to die too early.

骨關(guān)節(jié)炎通常在人們五十多歲時發(fā)病。洛醫(yī)生說騎自行車是預(yù)防關(guān)節(jié)炎的好方法。大量研究表明，經(jīng)常騎自行車的人過早死亡的可能性會降低約20%。