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Hot Peppers' Capsaicin Helps Hypertensive Rats

辣椒里的辣椒素帮助高血压实验鼠降低血压

Here’s a possible blood pressure remedy. But it’s only for those who can stand the heat. It’s capsaicin, the “active ingredient” in peppers like habaneros that should probably be sold by prescription only. While lips burn and eyes water, blood vessels actually relax, thanks to increased production of the signaling molecule nitric oxide. In rodents, anyway.

有一种方法或许能治疗血压疾病，但只对能够忍受灼热的人有效。它就是辣椒素——一种辣椒里，如灯笼椒（朝天椒），上的活性成分，而且在药店里购买可能还得提供医生处方。当被辣到呲牙咧嘴、眼泪汪汪的时候，血管其实便会松弛，这是由于辣椒素增加了信号分子一氧化氮的数量。当然，这是在实验鼠身上观察到的结果。

For seven months, researchers in China fed a steady diet of capsaicin to rats bred to be hypertensive. Long-term consumption of the chemical substantially lowered the rats’ blood pressure. The results appear in the August issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

中国的研究者们用7个月的时间给培育成高血压的小鼠喂食一成不变的辣椒素食物。长期食用这种药物使得小鼠们的血压大幅下降。该研究的成果发表在8月份的《细胞-代谢》杂志上。

Previous research found mixed results with capsaicin, but those studies only looked at short-term effects. Human trials are needed, but there’s already a clue. Some 20 percent of people in northeastern China have high blood pressure. But the southwest—where hot peppers are a dietary staple—has a much lower incidence, half in some places.

先前的研究发现辣椒素的效果好坏参半，不过那些研究都只考察了短期影响。尽管人体实验将必不可少，但现在已有了一线希望。中国东北约有20%的人有高血压，但在西南高血压发病率就低很多，有的地方仅有东北的一半，而在中国西南，辣椒人们日常食用的主要食物。

Human studies could also confirm whether the habanero, as legend has it, can cause hearing loss. Allegedly so that diners don’t have to listen to their own screams.

人体实验还会证实灯笼椒（朝天椒）是否如传说那样能辣到让人失聪，据说这样食客就听不到自己被辣到要命的尖叫声了。

-Adam Hinterthuer

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