科學家:男人獨會美女有害健康
Meeting a beautiful woman can be bad for your health, scientists have found.
The effects are heightened in men who believe that the woman in question is "out of their league".
Cortisol is produced by the body under physical or psychological stress and has been linked to heart disease.
Researchers tested 84 male students by asking each one to sit in a room and solve a Sudoku puzzle. Two strangers, one male and one female, were also in the room.
When the female stranger left the room and the two men remained sitting together, the volunteer's stress levels did not rise. However, when the volunteer was left alone with the female stranger, his cortisol levels rose.
The researchers concluded: "In this study we considered that for most men the presence of an attractive woman may induce the perception that there is an opportunity for courtship.
"While some men might avoid attractive women since they think they are 'out of their league', the majority would respond with apprehension and a concurrent hormonal response.
"This study showed that male cortisol levels increased after exposure to a five-minute short social contact with a young, attractive woman."
Cortisol can have a positive effect in small doses, improving alertness and well-being. However, chronically elevated cortisol levels can worsen medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and impotency.
科研人員日前發現，與美女會面可能有害健康。
尤其是當男性遇到他們覺得“遙不可及”的美女時，這種影響會增強。
人的身體在生理或心理的壓力下會產生一種名叫皮質醇的物質，這種物質與心臟病的發生有關。
研究人員對84名男性學生進行了測試，讓他們每人坐在一個房間裏做一道數獨題。房間裏還同時安排了一男一女兩個陌生人。
當陌生女性離開房間，屋內剩下兩名男性時，研究對象的壓力水平沒有升高。而當調查對象與陌生女性單獨共處一室時，他的皮質醇水平便出現了升高。
研究人員得出結論：“在這項研究中我們發現，對於大多數男性來說，美女的出現會讓他們產生這樣一種想法，即存在求愛的機會。
“儘管一些男性會因爲覺得美女‘遙不可及’而避免與她們接觸，但大多數男性的反應還是比較積極，同時荷爾蒙水平也會發生變化。
“研究顯示，當男性與一個年輕漂亮的女性短暫接觸五分鐘後，皮質醇水平就會升高。”
少量的皮質醇能給人體帶來一些積極影響，如提高機敏度，增進健康。然而，皮質醇水平長期過高會加重心臟病、糖尿病、高血壓和性無能等疾病患者的病情。
Vocabulary:
out of sb.'s league: 超出某人的能力、檔次和範圍等
cortisol: 皮質醇
Sudoku puzzle: 數字拼圖遊戲，數獨題目
concurrent: existing or happening at the same time 並存的；同時發生的
hypertension: blood pressure that is higher than is normal 高血壓
impotency: an inability (usually of the male animal) to copulate 性無能
