高跟鞋是女人的最愛，但是高跟鞋和關節炎之間究竟有沒有聯系呢？

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

    醫生們警告女人們：數百萬喜歡穿高跟鞋的女性可能面臨罹患關節炎的危險。

    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.

    患骨關節炎的女性是男性的兩倍。發表在《柳葉刀》醫學期刊的一篇文章顯示，高跟鞋可能就是誘發關節炎的原因。

    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.

    研究者讓平均年齡為36歲的20名健康女性先后光腳和穿上2.5英寸的高跟鞋在一個特殊的平臺上行走。平臺下的傳感器和照相機會記錄她們運動時腳踝和膝關節的受力情況。

    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.

    研究結果顯示：女性穿著高跟鞋行走時，膝蓋骨和股骨受到的壓力會比光腳行走的時候大。

    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.

    穿高跟鞋讓膝關節承受的壓力平均增加了23%，膝蓋韌帶外側承受了更大的壓力。

    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進鞋子的設計。她還回答了一些具體的提問，諸如“多高的高跟鞋算高？”，“僅在特殊場合穿著高跟鞋好不好？”。從未穿過高跟鞋的克里根回答：“關于穿高跟鞋這件事，很可能你穿得時間越久，你就越容易得關節炎。我的建議就是——不要穿高跟鞋。”