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| WASHINGTON — President Biden has said it is a “legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not they’re fit” to serve in the White House. To those who question his fitness, he has a stock answer: “Watch me.” | 华盛顿——拜登总统说过，“质问任何70岁以上的人是否适合”在白宫任职“都是个合理的问题”。对于那些质疑他能否胜任的人，他的回答很老套：“瞧好了。” |
| On Sunday, Mr. Biden turns 80 — a number he tries never to utter in public. “I can’t even say the age I am going to be,” Mr. Biden said in a recent interview with MSNBC. “I can’t even get it out of my mouth.” | 周日，拜登迎来了80岁生日，他尽力避免在公开场合说出这一数字。“我甚至没法说出我的年龄，”他最近在接受MSNBC采访时表示。“怎么都说不出口。” |
| Also left unsaid is that Mr. Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term, should he run in 2024 and win — a fact that his critics have seized upon and that gives even some Democrats pause. | 同样未被挑明的还有，如果拜登在2024年参选总统并获胜，到第二任期结束时他将是86岁——这一事实成为了批评者的把柄，甚至也让一些民主党人感到踌躇。 |
| But while the risk of life-threatening diseases, dementia and death rises faster with each passing decade of a person’s life, experts in geriatrics say that people in their 80s who are active, engaged and have a sense of purpose can remain productive and healthy — and that wisdom and experience are important factors to consider. | 但老年病学专家表示，虽然人的生命每过十年，患上危及生命的疾病、失智和死亡的风险都会加快上升，但若在八旬之年活力充沛、投入并有使命感，依然能保持工作效率和健康——而且智慧和经验也是重要的考量因素。 |
| The New York Times spoke to 10 experts in aging to paint a picture of what the next six years might look like for a person of the president’s age. These experts have not examined or treated Mr. Biden, though they have looked at publicly available information, including a medical report issued by the White House last year, a day before his 79th birthday. | 《纽约时报》采访了衰老问题专家，描绘了未来六年对于总统这样年纪的人来说会是什么模样。这些专家并未对拜登进行检查或治疗，但查阅了公开信息，包括白宫去年在拜登79岁生日前一天发布的医疗报告。 |
| Mr. Biden, these experts agreed, has a lot going in his favor: He is highly educated, has plenty of social interaction, a stimulating job that requires a lot of thinking, is married and has a strong family network — all factors that, studies show, are protective against dementia and conducive to healthy aging. He does not smoke or drink alcohol and, according to the White House, he exercises five times a week. He also has top-notch medical care. | 这些专家一致认为，拜登有很多优势：他受过高等教育、有大量社交活动、还有一份需要大量思考的刺激性职业、已婚并有强大的家族网络——研究表明，所有这些因素都能预防失智，有利于健康老龄化。他不抽烟也不喝酒，据白宫称，他每周锻炼五次。他还能得到一流医疗服务。 |
| His race is another factor. The life expectancy for the average white, 80-year-old man is another eight years, said Dr. John Rowe, a professor of health policy and aging at Columbia University. “And that’s the average,” Dr. Rowe said. “A lot of those 80-year-olds are already sick; they are already in the nursing home.” | 种族则是另一因素。哥伦比亚大学研究卫生政策和衰老问题的教授约翰·罗博士称，80岁白人男性的平均预期寿命是88岁。“而且这是平均值，”罗说。“很多80岁老人已经患病；他们已经住在疗养院了。” |
| Scientists who study aging stress that chronological age is not the same as biological age — and that the two often diverge as people grow older. It is true that older people tend to decline physically, and the brain also undergoes changes. But in people who are active, experts say, the brain continues to evolve and some brain functions can even improve — a phenomenon experts call the “neuroplasticity of aging.” | 研究衰老问题的科学家强调，实际年龄和生理年龄并不相同，随着人的年龄增长，这两者往往会出现差异。的确，老年人的身体往往会衰退，大脑也会发生改变。但专家表示，活力充沛的人大脑会继续进化，一些脑功能甚至能得到改善——专家称这一现象为“衰老的神经可塑性”。 |
| “This idea that old age is associated with only declines is not true,” said Dr. Dilip Jeste, a psychiatrist who has studied aging at the University of California, San Diego. “There are studies that have been done all over the world which show that in people who keep active physically, socially, mentally and cognitively there is increased connectivity among specific networks, and even new neurons and synapses can form in selected brain regions with older age.” | “年老就只能退化的观点是不正确的，”加州圣迭戈大学研究衰老的精神病学家迪利普·杰斯特博士表示。“世界各地都有研究表明，在身体、社交、心理和认知方面保持活跃的人，特定身体网络之间的连通性增强，甚至随着年龄增长，在特定的大脑区域会形成新的神经元和突触。” |
| No one can predict how a single individual will fare. The medical report the White House released last year was a summary of findings by the president’s longtime personal physician, Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor, who proclaimed him a “healthy, vigorous, 78-year-old male.” But the White House has not released underlying lab documents, as Mr. Biden did when he was running for office; Andrew Bates, the deputy press secretary, said Mr. Biden would have another physical “in the coming months.” | 没有人能预测个人的命运走向。白宫去年发布的医疗报告是总统的长期私人医生凯文·C·奥康纳博士的检查结果的总结，他称总统是“健康、精力充沛的78岁男性”。但白宫没有像拜登在竞选总统时那样公布相关的化验记录；副新闻秘书安德鲁·贝茨表示，拜登将“在接下来几个月”再次接受体检。 |
| Dr. O’Connor reported that the president takes prescription medicine to control his cholesterol and atrial fibrillation — an irregular heartbeat. He also noted two specific changes in Mr. Biden’s health: He had experienced “increasing frequency and severity of ‘throat clearing’” while speaking, probably due to acid reflux, and he had some stiffness in his gait. | 奥康纳的报告称，总统需服用处方药来控制胆固醇和心房纤颤——这是一种心率不齐问题。他还指出了拜登健康状况的两处具体变化：可能是由于胃酸反流，他在演讲时“‘清嗓’的频率和严重程度都在增加”，他的步态也有些僵硬。 |
| Both are common in older people, said Dr. Dan Blazer, professor emeritus and psychiatric epidemiologist at Duke University School of Medicine. The same, he said, goes for Mr. Biden’s verbal stumbles — including the time he searched an audience for a congresswoman, apparently forgetting that she had died the previous month. | 杜克大学医学院荣休教授和精神流行病学家丹·布雷泽博士称，这两种情况在老年人中都很常见。他说，拜登的口误也是如此，包括有一次他在听众中寻找一名女议员，显然忘记她上个月已去世的事实。 |
| “Slippage of memory is something that is usual, but it is not a real deficit,” said Dr. Blazer, who led a committee of experts that examined “cognitive aging” for the National Academy of Sciences in 2015. He described such slippage this way: “They forget, they remember they have forgotten and they eventually remember what they have forgotten.” | “记忆力减退是常见现象，但不算真正的缺陷，”布雷泽表示，他在2015年领导一个专家委员会为国家科学院研究“认知衰老”问题。他如此形容这种记忆衰退：“他们会遗忘，他们也会记得自己的遗忘，最终会想起自己遗忘的东西。” |
| Once people reach 65, the risk of dementia doubles every five years, said Dr. Gill Livingston, a psychiatrist at University College London, who led a commission on dementia in 2020 that was convened by The Lancet, a medical journal. In general, she said, in high-income countries like the United States, dementia will affect 10 percent of people aged 80 to 84 and 20 percent of those aged 85 to 89. | 在2020年领导了由医学杂志《柳叶刀》召集的失智症研究委员会的伦敦大学学院精神病学家吉尔·利文斯顿博士表示，人一旦年满65岁，患失智症的风险每五年翻一番。她说一般情况下，在美国这样的高收入国家，80岁至84岁人群中有10%的人受到失智症影响，85岁至89岁人群的这一比例为20%。 |
| Mr. Biden did not undergo cognitive screening during his last physical, and experts are divided about its necessity for older adults. In 2019, the American Academy of Neurologists recommended annual screenings for those 65 and older because “age itself is a significant risk factor for cognitive decline.” But in 2020, a federal panel of independent experts declined to endorse it, saying there was not enough research to determine the “balance of benefits and harms.” | 拜登在上次体检中没有接受认知筛查，对于老年人是否有必要做，专家们意见不一。2019年，美国神经病学学会建议65岁及以上人群每年进行筛查，因为“年老本身就是认知能力下降的一个重要风险因素”。但在2020年，一个由独立专家组成的联邦小组拒绝认可这一建议，称没有足够的研究来确定“利弊平衡”。 |
| Several experts say doctors typically perform cognitive screening tests only when there is evidence of a problem; Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Mr. Biden’s chief medical adviser, who will be 82 on Christmas Eve and will soon retire from federal service, said in an interview that he has never had one. | 多位专家表示，医生通常只在有证据表明存在问题时才进行认知筛查测试；拜登的首席医疗顾问安东尼·S·福奇博士在接受采访时表示，他从未接受过此类筛查。福奇将在圣诞夜年满82岁，不久也将从联邦部门退休。 |
| As the baby boom cohort ages, the number of octogenarians is growing into what experts have called a “silver tsunami.” In its 2020 Profile of Older Americans, the federal Department of Health and Human Services reported that the 85-and-older population was projected to more than double from 6.6 million in 2019 to 14.4 million in 2040. | 随着婴儿潮一代逐渐变老，八旬老人的数量正在增长，专家们称之为“银色海啸”。联邦卫生与公众服务部在《2020年全国老龄人口概况》中写道，预计到2040年，美国85岁及以上的人口将从2019年的660万增加一倍多，达到1440万。 |
| There is no shortage of octogenarians in public life. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was treated for colon cancer when she was in her 60s and served on the Supreme Court until she died, at 87, of pancreatic cancer complications. Seven U.S. senators are in their 80s — including Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 and 2020, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader — and one need only look to the chamber to see the variability in how people age. | 公共生活中不乏八旬老人。大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格在60多岁时曾因结肠癌接受治疗，但在最高法院任职直到87岁因胰腺癌并发症去世。有七名美国参议员年届八旬，其中包括佛蒙特州的伯尼·桑德斯，他曾在2016年和2020年寻求民主党总统候选人提名，还有共和党领袖、肯塔基州的米奇·麦康奈尔——只需要看看议院就知道，人和人的衰老情况各不相同。 |
| Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, is obviously diminished at 89; she struggles to recall the names of colleagues and what happened in meetings. Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, just won re-election at 89; he will be 95 if he finishes his term. Mr. Grassley is fond of tweeting videos of his early morning runs and sometimes does push-ups at public campaign events. | 89岁的加利福尼亚州民主党参议员黛安·范斯坦明显已经很衰弱；她很难回想起同事的名字以及会议上发生了什么。艾奥瓦州共和党参议员查尔斯·E·格拉斯利(Charles E. Grassley)刚刚以89岁的高龄赢得连任；任期结束时他将是95岁。格拉斯利喜欢在Twitter上发布他清晨跑步的视频，有时还会在公开竞选活动上做俯卧撑。 |
| “People in their 80s commonly experience declines; we shouldn’t be naïve about that,” said Lisa Berkman, a professor of public policy at the Harvard School of Public Health who studies health and aging. “And at the same time, there is so much variability. People who are doing well and are in the top level of functioning, have the odds of going for another 10 years, of doing really well during this time and making very important contributions.” | “80多岁的人通常会出现退化；我们不应该对此有什么不切实际的想法，”哈佛大学公共卫生学院研究健康和老龄化的公共政策教授丽莎·伯克曼说。“与此同时，也有很多变数。那些做得很好的人，处于机能的最高水平，他们有机会继续工作10年，在这段时间里做得非常好，做出非常重要的贡献。” |
| The White House says Mr. Biden keeps up a busy pace, noting his frequent travel during the campaign season and his recent three-country, two-continent swing to attend summit meetings in Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia. | 白宫说，拜登能应付繁忙的日程，他在竞选季经常出行，最近又进行了涉及两大洲和埃及、柬埔寨和印度尼西亚三国的首脑会晤。 |
| Mr. Bates cited Mr. Biden’s legislative achievements and the Democrats’ better-than-expected midterm outcome as evidence of Mr. Biden’s vigor, and said the president is in “good health and maintains an active lifestyle.” He also hit on the experience theme: “As Joe Biden has said since before becoming the most experienced president in American history, ‘watch him.’” | 贝茨说，拜登在立法方面取得的成就和民主党好于预期的中期选举结果可以证明拜登的活力，并说总统“健康状况良好，保持着积极的生活方式”。他还提到了经验这个主题：“就像乔·拜登在成为美国历史上最有经验的总统之前就曾经说过的，‘瞧好了。’” |
| While experts are reluctant to diagnose Mr. Biden from afar — and there is no way to predict the future — those who have reviewed the available White House medical records said that so far, he appears to be aging in a healthy way. | 虽然专家们不愿远程为拜登诊断，而且也没有办法预测未来，但是查看过白宫现有医疗记录的人说，到目前为止，拜登似乎在以一种健康的方式衰老。 |
| Jay Olshansky, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago, names both Mr. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, who is 76, as likely fitting the profile of “super-agers” — a “subgroup of people that maintain their mental and physical functioning and tend to live longer than the average person their age.” | 伊利诺斯大学芝加哥分校的流行病学家杰伊·奥尔尚斯基认为，拜登和76岁的前总统特朗普很可能符合“超级老人”的特征，这指的是“一个保持精神和身体机能的亚群体，往往比同龄人的平均寿命更长。” |
| Dr. Olshansky also says it is a misconception to think being president ages a person; in fact, former presidents tend to live longer, as an analysis he published in 2011 showed. Former President Jimmy Carter, who has been active well into his 90s, turned 98 last month. President George H.W. Bush was 94 when he died in 2018. | 奥尔尚斯基还表示，认为当总统会催人衰老是一种误解；事实上，他在2011年发表的一份分析报告显示，当过总统的人往往更加长寿。前总统吉米·卡特在90多岁的高龄仍然很活跃，上个月他刚刚年满98岁。老布什总统2018年去世时是94岁。 |
| As to whether age should matter in any election, Dr. Nir Barzilai, who is leading a study of centenarians and directs the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, put it simply: “Age,” he said, “is not something to consider on its own.” | 对于年龄在选举中是否要紧，阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦医学院衰老研究所主任、领导了一项针对百岁老人研究的尼尔·巴兹莱博士简单地说：“年龄，不是一个单独拿出来考虑的东西。” |
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