《中英對照讀新聞》Cofee and tea ruduce liver risk, study finds 研究發現咖啡與茶可降低罹患肝病風險

◎ 陳成良

Coffee and tea may reduce the risk of serious liver damage in people who drink alcohol too much, are overweight, or have too much iron in the blood, researchers reported.

咖啡和茶或可降低人類因飲酒過多、體重過重或血液中含鐵過多而導致肝臟嚴重受損的危險，研究人員說。

The study of nearly 10,000 people showed that those who drank more than two cups of coffee or tea per day developed chronic liver disease at half the rate of those who drank less than one cup each day.

這項針對近1萬人的研究顯示，相較於每天日飲用咖啡或茶不到一杯的人，每天喝咖啡或茶超過兩杯者罹患慢性肝病的機率僅為前者的一半。

The study, conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., found that coffee provided no protection to people at risk of liver disease from other causes, such as viral infections.

不過由「國家糖尿病、消化及腎臟疾病研究所」及「社會和科學系統公司」所做的這項研究發現，咖啡不能降低其它原因—如病毒感染—導致肝臟疾病的危險。

"While it is too soon to encourage patients to increase their coffee and tea intake, the findings of our study potentially offer people at high-risk for developing chronic liver disease a practical way to decrease that risk," said Dr. Constance Ruhl, who helped lead the study.Writing in the American Gastroenterological Association journal Gastroenterology, Ruhl and colleagues said caffeine seemed to hold the key.

「雖然現在建議患者多喝咖啡或茶，為時過早，但我們的研究為可能罹患慢性肝臟疾病的高危險群提供了一種降低危險的實用方法，」研究領導人魯爾博士說。魯爾及其同仁在美國胃腸病學會的《胃腸病學》期刊撰文表示，咖啡因可能是造成這種效果的主因。

新聞辭典

chronic：（病）慢性的。例句：She's developed a chronic cough.（她的咳嗽已成了慢性病。）chronic另有「長期的， 不斷的」意思。例句： The economy flourishes despite a fairly high rate of chronic unemployment.（儘管失業率居高不下，經濟仍蓬勃發展。）

infection：影響；感染。例句：He suffered from a lung infection. （他肺部受到感染。）

hold the key ：掌握（問題或神秘事物）解答；關鍵。例句：Only those who are prepared well hold the key to success. （只有準備妥當的人才能掌握成功關鍵。）