Daily drink improves thinking in older women最新研究發現：女性每日飲酒能延緩思維衰老
Women who enjoy a drink of beer or wine daily have sharper minds into old age than women who abstain, U.S. researchers reported recently.
The report, based on a study of nearly 12,500 nurses, adds to the apparent benefits of light to moderate drinking, which can also prevent heart disease and stroke.
"Our study suggests that moderate consumption might provide older women some cognitive benefits," said Dr. Francine Grodstein of Brigham and Women"s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, who worked on the study.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Grodstein and colleagues said they found that drinkers aged 70 to 81 were 20 percent less likely to experience a decline in their thinking skills over a two-year period than women who did not drink at all.
On average, the women who quaffed a beer or a glass of wine each day tended to have the mental agility of someone a year and a half younger than abstainers.
Drinking more than one glass of beer or wine didn"t produce a greater benefit, the researchers said. However, few of the nurses in the study were heavy drinkers.
And it didn"t seem to matter whether the women drank wine or beer, according to the team, led by Dr. Meir Stampfer, also of Brigham and Women"s Hospital.
Moderate alcohol consumption -- about a 12-ounce (0.35 liters) beer or a six-ounce (0.18 liters) glass of wine -- is already known to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The researchers used the ongoing Nurses" Health Study, in which the women filled out questionnaires about drinking habits and took a telephone survey designed to assess thinking skills.
In an editorial in the Journal, Dr. Denis Evans and Dr. Julia Bienias of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, cautioned that the findings are not conclusive.
It may simply be, they said, "that older persons who are in good cognitive and physical health may be more likely than less healthy peers to indulge in low-to-moderate alcohol consumption as part of their social activities."
(Agencies)最近，美國研究者們的研究報告顯示：女性中每天喝啤酒或葡萄酒的人和那些從不喝酒的人相比，到晚年她們的大腦思維更加敏捷。
該報告對將近12500名護士進行了調查，調查顯示少量或適度飲酒不僅對身體健康有明顯的好處，而且還能預防心臟病和中風。
“研究(結果)顯示，適度飲酒有助於提高老年婦女的思維能力。”從事此項研究的弗朗辛· 格羅斯坦醫生說，她在波士頓布萊根婦女醫院和哈佛大學醫學院工作。
格羅斯坦和同事們在《新英格蘭醫學期刊》上寫道，他們發現年齡在70至81歲的婦女中，在兩年時間中，飲酒者大腦思維能力衰退的可能性比戒酒者少20%。
每天喝一杯啤酒或葡萄酒的女性的思維能力平均比同齡戒酒女性年輕1歲半。
研究者們稱，(每日)飲酒多於一杯並未產生更明顯的保健效果，然而參與本研究的護士中鮮有過度飲酒者。
同樣來自布萊根婦科醫院的醫生邁爾·施坦普費爾帶領的小組進行的'研究結果顯示，婦女飲用葡萄酒或啤酒的(保健)效果區別不大。
適度飲酒--約12盎司(0.35升)啤酒或6盎司(0.18升)葡萄酒--早已為大家所公認，可以降低患心臟病和中風的危險。
研究者們藉助正在進行的“護士健康調查”來進行研究，護士們填寫了有關飲酒習慣的問卷調查並接受專門為評估思維能力設計的電話調查。
在該期刊的一篇評論中，芝加哥拉什大學醫學中心的丹尼斯·埃文斯醫生和朱利亞·比尼亞斯醫生警告說，這些發現並不是很確鑿。
他們說，事實也許很簡單，“那些身心健康的老年人也許比不健康的同齡人更喜歡將少量或適度飲酒作為社交活動的一部分。”
Vocabulary:
quaff: to drink (a beverage) heartily(痛飲，盡情地喝)
questionnaire: a printed form containing a set of questions, especially one addressed to a statistically significant number of subjects as a way of gathering information for a survey(調查問卷)(：夏根建)
