2006年VOA标准英语-Two New Studies: Caffeine Not Harmful to H

By Amy Katz
Washington, DC
28 April 2006
 
watch Caffeine report

Two recently released medical studies show that caffeine is not harmful to the heart. 

The two long-term studies of coffee drinking habits found that even people who drink caffeinated beverages¹ by the liter, have healthy hearts. The combined surveys  -- which followed more than 128,000 people for 14 to 20 years -- kept track of how much coffee participants drank, what kind of coffee it was and whether they had any heart problems. 

Cup of coffee beside whole coffee beans  
  
What researchers found is that drinking caffeine -- even six cups a day -- does not cause coronary artery² disease.

But that does not mean caffeine is good for you, according to Dr. Patricia Davidson of the Washington Hospital Center. "Caffeine basically is essentially³ not a good substance so you just don't [should not] drink a lot of it.  We haven't found, we can't pinpoint⁴, anything really bad about caffeine -- is the point and we've been trying for decades."

The new studies say that caffeine consumption does not affect the levels of either good cholesterol⁵ -- H.D.L., or bad cholesterol -- L.D.L.  But the researchers point out these results does not apply to coffee made without a paper filter.  

Dr. Patricia Davidson  
  
Again, Dr. Davidson. "We haven't been able to prove that coronary artery disease, which basically is the formation of cholesterol plaques⁶ within the artery wall -- what we call atherosclerosis -- we haven't been able to document that caffeine does promote clogging⁷ of the arteries⁸ or atherosclerosis."

Dr. Davidson says another recent study in Costa Rica suggests the way some people metabolize caffeine may cause them to suffer side effects.

"Young people who were slow metabolizers ended up having an increased risk of heart disease.  Now that was a small study and we don't have the final word on it, and plus we're not doing genetic⁹ breakdowns¹⁰ on people to find out if they should or should not drink coffee."

So to be safe, Dr. Davidson says people should drink their coffee in moderation.

1 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

2 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

5 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

6 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。

7 clogging   

堵塞，闭合

参考例句：

• This process suffers mainly from clogging the membrane. 这种过程的主要问题是滤膜的堵塞。
• And you know that eyewitness that's been clogging up the airwaves? 你知道那个充斥着电视广播的目击证人？

8 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

10 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句