Women's Blood Pressure Drops with a Few Drinks a Week

　　 A few drinks a week may slightly reduce a woman's chance of developing high blood pressure, or hypertension, but consuming more than a drink a day puts her at increased risk, Harvard researchers report.

　　 " Women who drink on average about 3 drinks a week had a 15％ reduced risk of developing chronic hypertension, but women who drank 10 to 12 drinks a week had a 30％ increased risk of developing chronic hypertension," Dr. Ravi Thadhani, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, told Reuters Health.

　　 The researchers looked at alcohol intake and subsequent high blood pressure reported by more than 70,000 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study, a long-term study following the health of more than 100,000 women. " It's known that alcohol consumption in excess can lead to increased risk in heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure, but what is not known is the effect at light to moderate levels," Thadhani said. " What we were hoping to do was look at how alcohol affects blood pressure in young women ages 20 to 40."

　　 The researchers followed the women for 8 years to see whether they developed hypertension, taking into account other factors known to be associated with high blood pressure, such as weight, physical activity, age, smoking and the use of oral contraceptives. The findings are published in the March 11th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers found that women who reported drinking around half a drink a day, or three drinks on average each week, had a 15％ lower chance of developing chronic high blood pressure than women who abstained from drinking altogether. By contrast, women who drank more than 1.5 drinks a day, or more than 10 drinks weekly, had a 30％ increased chance of developing chronic high blood pressure.

　　 Thadhani noted that moderate amounts of alcohol may relax blood vessels, thus reducing the chance of developing high blood pressure, while high levels of alcohol may injure those vessels, boosting high blood pressure risk. The investigators also examined whether the type of alcohol consumed made a difference. They found that the higher consumption of beer, wine and hard liquor seemed equally harmful. Light beer drinking seemed to be the most beneficial form of alcohol in reducing the risk of high blood pressure.


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适度饮酒有助于降低性血压

哈佛大学研究人员的最新研究结果表明，如果女性每周适度饮酒，可以在一定程度上降低患高血压的可能性，但是如果每天饮酒超过一杯，则患高血压的风险相应增加。

　　位于马萨诸塞州波士顿的哈佛大学医学院的医学助理教授拉维·撒迪哈尼博士对路透社医药健康栏目的记者说，每周平均饮用3杯酒的女性，患慢性高血压的几率会降低15％，但是如果每周饮酒10－12杯，那么患慢性高血压的几率会提高30％。

　　研究人员对参加护理健康研究的7万名妇女饮酒及相应的高血压发病率做出统计,这项研究对美国的10万多名妇女进行了长期健康情况调查。拉维·撒迪哈尼博士说?quot;众所周知，过度饮酒会导致人们心脏病突发、中风、高血压的发病几率提高，而少量或适度饮酒对健康的影响却还不为人所知。我们做这项研究的目的就是要了解饮酒对20－40岁之间年轻女性的血压会产生哪些影响。"

　　研究人员对7万名女性进行了长达8年的跟踪调查，在综合考虑其他引发高血压的因素的同时，如体重、体育活动、年龄、吸烟和口服避孕药等，确定了饮酒与高血压之间的关系。研究的结果发表在3月11日一期的《美国内科杂志》上，研究人员还发现，那些每天饮半杯酒，或每周平均饮酒3杯的女性患慢性高血压的几率比滴酒不沾的女性低15％。相比之下，每天喝一杯半，或每周饮酒超过10杯的女性患慢性高血压的几率增加30％。

　　拉维·撒迪哈尼博士指出，适度饮酒能够使血管松弛，从而降低患高血压的可能性。相反，过度饮酒会损伤血管，使高血压发病风险大大提高。他们同时还研究了不同类型的酒是否对女性健康产生不同的影响。结果表明，过度的饮酒，无论是啤酒、葡萄酒还是烈性酒，对身体的危害都是一样的。最适宜的饮酒方式是饮用少量的啤酒，可以极大地帮助降低女性患高血压的风险。