一天四杯咖啡 对心脏有益

Despite the belief that coffee can cause the heart to go into palpitations, a study indicates moderate drinkers may be at a lower risk of having heart rhythm disturbances.

尽管有人认为咖啡会导致心悸，但一项调查显示适度的饮用咖啡会降低人们心律不齐的风险。

More than 130,000 men and women were studied. Those drinking four or more ，cups of coffee a day had an 18 per cent lower risk of going to hospital for heart disturbances.

超过130000的男性和女性接受了调查。那些每天喝4杯或者更多咖啡的人，患心律不齐的风险比正常人降低18%。

Those who had drunk between one and three cups had a 7 per cent reduction of risk.

而喝2到3杯咖啡的人，风险比正常人低7%。

Tony Blair has blamed his heart problems while he was prime minister on too much strong coffee during an EU conference - and doctors advised him to cut back.

在一次欧盟会议上，时任首相的托尼布莱尔嗜好咖啡并被指责有心脏问题，随后医生建议他减少咖啡量。

He was suffering from atrial fibrillation, the most common form of heart rhythm problem. Left untreated, it can increase the risk of heart attack.

他患有最常见的心率问题：房颤症。如果不治疗的话，会增加心脏病发作的危险。

But the latest research suggests his doctors may have been wrong - and coffee may have had nothing to do with his irregular heartbeat.

但是现在最新的调查显示，他的医生可能是错误的-咖啡可能和他的心律不齐问题一点关系也没有。

Lead investigator Dr Arthur Klatsky, a cardiologist at the Kaiser Permanente health insurance company, said the study did not conclusively prove coffee protects the heart - just that there was some sort of link.

Kaiser Permanente医疗保险公司的首席研究员，心脏病专家Arthur Klatsky大夫说：这项研究没有最终证明咖啡能保护心脏-只是说明有一些联系。

He said: 'Coffee drinking is related to lower risk of hospitalisation for rhythm problems, but the association does not prove cause and effect, or that coffee has a protective effect.'

他说：喝咖啡的确和降低心律不齐的风险有关，但是二者的联系不是因果关系，或者不能说明咖啡就是有保护心脏的效果。

Dr Klatsky said he believed moderate doses of caffeine may help the heart by blocking the action of the chemical adenosine, which can cause disturbed rhythm.

Klatsky大夫说他 相信适量的咖啡因可以帮助心脏阻止能导致心律不齐的腺苷的化学行为。

But he warned that previous studies had indicated that excessive coffee consumption can increase the risk.

但他同时警告：之前的调查也说明过量饮用咖啡会增加患病几率