A racing pulse and sweaty palms are well known as the signs of instant attraction。

心跳加速和掌心出汗是一见钟情的典型表现。

Now research shows that for men just five minutes spent alone with a beautiful stranger causes so much stress it may be bad for the heart。

最近的一项研究表明，对男人来说，与一位美丽的陌生女性相处仅仅5分钟也将会给心脏带来巨大负担。

The effects are worst for men who might think they are not “in the same league” as the woman now sharing their space but still try to attract her interest, scientists claim。

科学家解释说，对那种认为陌生女性与他并不是“一类人”的男性来讲，这种影响更为糟糕，他们会极力想方设法吸引这类女性的注意。

For those men, their anxiety rate is said to be similar to jumping from an aircraft. Their cortisol levels rise even higher, bringing on the possibility of heart attacks and strokes。

对这些男人来说，他们的兴奋程度不亚于从飞机上跳下来。他们的肾上腺激素分泌程度极高，这极可能引发心脏病与中风。

“Exposure to physical or psychological stresses for a long period of time may cause chronically elevated cortisol levels. That can have adverse effects on health as it worsens various disorders, such as myopathy, adult-onset diabetes, hypertension and impotency,” said the research team。

该研究小组认为：“身体或精神长期处于压力之下，可能导致肾上腺水平持续升高。这将使身体内部机能处于失调状态，进而恶化人体健康状况。比如导致神经功能异常、急性糖尿病、高血压和肌无力等。”

They paid 84 male students ?10 each to take part in an experiment – approved by the Faculty of Psychology’s ethical committee – which measured their cortisol levels before and after they had been left alone with a stranger。

研究者邀请84名学生参与一个由心理学行为委员会赞助的实验活动，为此他们支付给每位学生10英镑作为酬劳。并测量了实验人员与陌生人独处前后的肾上腺水平。

The men, who had been told to avoid alcohol and other stimulants for 24 hours, were led to a room and given a Sudoko puzzle to solve。

实验人员被告知在24小时内不得接触酒精与其他类型的兴奋剂，他们被集中在一个房间里，并要求做一个九宫格游戏。

Each one presumed the other two people in the room were a researcher and another student guinea pig。

每个人都认定屋子里的另外两人一个是研究人员一个是参与实验人员。

When the researcher left the room – on the pretence of getting another puzzle – the other two were left alone。

当研究人员借口去做另一个谜题离开屋子时，另外两人便被留下来独处。

The researchers discovered that cortisol levels stayed the same when two men were together but rose when a man was left alone with what was perceived as an attractive woman。

研究人员发现，当两个男人共处一室的时候，他们的肾上腺水平保持不变，而当一个男人意识到和他独处的是一位迷人的女性时，他的肾上腺水平升高。

They measured cortisol, which is secreted by the adrenal glands, by taking mouth swabs and saliva samples from the volunteers。

他们采集了志愿者的口腔唾液分泌物样本，从中测试其肾上腺水平。

The team 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 might think they are “out of their league”, the majority would respond with apprehension and a concurrent hormonal response。

这个研究团队最终得出结论是，对大多数男人来说，一位魅力女性的存在会降低他们向其求爱的可能性。尽管有部分男人会认为他们并非一类人而下意识避开这些迷人的女性，但大多数男人仍会出现荷尔蒙升高的反应。

“This study showed that male cortisol levels increased after exposure to a five-minute short social contact with a young attractive woman. It provides evidence that interpersonal interaction can influence the secretion of cortisol.”

这项研究表明，与一位年轻貌美的女性相处短短五分钟时间，男性的肾上腺水平就会升高。这为人际交往会影响肾上腺分泌提供了证据。

There are times when cortisol does have benefits. Small increases give quick bursts of energy for survival and pain endurance. But in high quantities it can lead to stress-related changes – and danger。

有时肾上腺分泌也是有其益处的。轻微的肾上腺升高会为绝境求生带来瞬间的能量爆炸式提升，并能增强对疼痛的承受能力。但如果肾上腺处在一个较高的水平上，则有可能改变压力释放的正常方式并带来危险。