咖啡愛好者較不易得到痛風
Drinking four or more cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of having a painful attack of gout, say Canadian scientists.
加拿大科學研究者指出，每日飲用四杯以上的咖啡可能可以降低得到痛風的機會。
A University of British Columbia team found blood uric acid levels - which are linked to the condition - were lower in people who drank more coffee.
英屬哥倫比亞大學研究團隊發現飲用較多咖啡的人他們血液中的尿酸含量(與痛風有直接關係)較低。
But tea had no measurable effect, suggesting that the active ingredient was not caffeine.
但是飲用相當份量的茶葉則並沒有明顯的作用，這可能意味著咖啡因並非造成此一效果的因素。
The work is published in the journal Arthritis Care and Research.
此項研究發表於關節炎醫療與研究期刊上。
Condition of the joints關節的病症
Gout affects about 600,000 people in the UK, with numbers thought to be increasing in recent years.
在英國約有六十萬人患有痛風的毛病，而且這個數字近年來有逐年增加的趨勢。
Its symptoms, which are often joint pains in the lower limbs, happen when uric acid crystallises out of the blood into the joints.
痛風的症狀通常是下肢關節處的疼痛，而發生的原因則是血液中的尿酸結晶化而聚集在關節部位。
Drinking too much beer, or eating too much red meat are thought to be to blame for many cases.
飲用過多的啤酒、食用過多的紅肉都被認為是致病的元兇。
The main way to tackle the condition is to take anti-inflammatory pills, change diet and drink more water, or in more severe cases, to take more powerful drugs to reduce uric acid levels in the blood.
而常見的醫療方式則是副用抗發炎的藥物、改變飲食習慣與飲用更多的水分、或者是在更嚴重的病例則必須服用強效的降低血液中尿酸濃度的藥物。
The latest research looked at the eating habits of 14,000 men and women between 1988 and 1994.
該項最新的研究檢視了自1988年到1994年間14,000名男性與女性的飲食習慣。
This information was compared with the results from blood tests for uric acid.
此項資料被拿來與他們的血中尿酸濃度測試的結果互相比較。
No caffeine link無關乎咖啡因
The researchers found that those who drank four or more coffees a day were more likely to have a much lower uric acid level in the blood, compared with those who drank one or fewer cups.
研究者發現那些每天飲用四杯以上咖啡的人比那些只飲用一杯以下的人更有可能有較低的尿酸濃度。
Tea had no measurable effect but decaffeinated coffee did, suggesting that the active ingredient was not caffeine.
茶葉並沒有相同的效果，但是無咖啡因的咖啡卻仍有相同的效果，指出了有效成分並非咖啡因。
The team claim that coffee drinking can lead to lower insulin levels in the blood, and that there is an established link between higher insulin levels and higher uric acid levels.
該研究團隊聲稱飲用咖啡可以降低血液中的胰島素含量，而較高的血液中胰島素與高尿酸兩者間的關連性已被證實。
The results back the findings of an earlier, much smaller, Japanese study.
此項研究結果支持了先前在日本進行的、規模較小的研究。
Dr Andrew Bamji, a consultant rheumatologist and President of the British Society of Rheumatology, said: "There is no reason why coffee consumption shouldn't have an effect on blood uric acid levels - although this is the first study I've seen which comes to this conclusion."
安德魯博士(風濕病學顧問、英國風濕病學學會主席)指出：『我找不出什麼理由認定咖啡不能有降低尿酸的功效！但是這倒是我第一次看到有研究導出這樣的結論。』
However, he said that there was no certainty that high blood uric acid levels - the only test carried out by the researchers - would cause gout.
然而，他指出高尿酸並不必然會造成痛風，而該項研究則僅針對了尿酸此一變項。
"Some people have elevated uric acid levels throughout life without ever having an attack of gout," he said.
『有些人一輩子都維持在高尿酸濃度，卻從未嚐到任何痛風的苦果！』他說。
站長(譯者)評論：
呵呵！又是一篇『飲用咖啡有益健康』的研究報告！
就邏輯上來說，如果喝一種飲料對於健康本來就有益或至少無害，那麼應該不會有任何研究者會煞費苦心去證明它有益健康的。
理由很簡單：因為這樣的研究沒有研究價值！欠缺有意義的問題意識。
所以可以引申而來的就是，喝咖啡一直都被普遍認為是對健康沒有正面意義的！
可是咖啡這種飲料背後所聯結的利益實在太過於龐大了，龐大到需要用純粹學術性的(所以"應該"是中立的)知識權力或論述權力來建構出咖啡『其實有益健康』這樣的一種『神話』！在健康意識逐漸抬頭高漲的現代社會中，也只有這種精心設計的、以『健康』之名為包裝的神話，才能抵銷掉咖啡潛藏在一般人意識中的負面刻版印象，以便繼續維持這塊龐大市場的穩定與成長！
更有意思的是，這篇研究還明確指出了，要喝到『四杯或以上』的分量才有效果！
我想這個研究團隊的後續研究一定是再去細分那些被研究者所引用的咖啡的種類或者產地吧！
然後說不定就會有『飲用中南美洲咖啡降尿酸的功效大於非洲咖啡』這樣的結論了。
也算是個科學新知吧！不過管它降不降尿酸的，我總之就是愛喝咖啡就是啦！何必找許多健康的理由來安慰自己呢？
You can fool anybody, but don't pacify yourself.
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