接下來是《科學一刻》聽眾來信時間。我們的一位聽眾寫道:
Dear A Moment of Science,I've heard that pork canbe used to stop a nosebleed.
親愛的《科學一刻》欄目,我聽說豬肉能被用來治流鼻血。
Is this true, or just a myth?
這是真的嗎,還是虛構出來的?
Well, there are lots of anecdotal stories about doctors in the 17-and 1800s stuffingpatients'noses with salt pork to stop nosebleeds.
呃,現(xiàn)在流傳著許多這樣的奇聞趣事,說的是18,19世紀的醫(yī)生將腌豬肉塞進病人的鼻子里治療流鼻血。
But the practice fell out of favor at some point because the meat wasn't always the freshest,and often swarmed with bacteria and other dangerous parasites.
但是在某些時候,這一療法并不流行。因為豬肉并不總是最新鮮的,經(jīng)常有細菌以及其他有害的寄生蟲。
But recently, doctors at the Detroit Medical Center used this old folk method to treat a youngchild who suffered from frequent and prolonged bloody noses.
但是在近期,底特律醫(yī)療中心的醫(yī)生們就用這一偏方來治療一名小孩子。這個孩子頻繁地流鼻血且持續(xù)時間很長,她深受其苦。
Using so called nasal tampons made of raw, salt pork, which they packed into her nose, the docswere able to stop the bleeding withintwenty-four hours.
醫(yī)生將由生的腌豬肉做成的,所謂的鼻子止血棉,塞進她的鼻子。在24小時之內,醫(yī)生們成功的止住了這個孩子的鼻血。
Now, to be sure, trying this admittedly weird sounding method on a single patient hardlyconstitutes an in depth study.
說老實話,只在一名病人身上嘗試這個聽起來確實古怪的老偏方,幾乎難以構成一項有深度的醫(yī)學研究。
But the pork treatment seems to have worked in this case.Why?
但是在這個案例中,豬肉療法看起來起作用了。這是為什么呢?
It could be that raw salt pork has certain qualities that help stop the bleeding.
可能的原因是,生的腌豬肉具有某種特性,有助于止血。
Or maybe thecombination of cold and salt narrow the blood vessels while the fat kick-startsclotting.
或者可能是,在脂肪快速凝固的同時,低溫和鹽的共同作用使血管收縮。
In any case, it's an interesting example of how some old folk cures might have some basisinscience.
不管怎樣,這都是一個有趣的例子,關于一些老偏方如何具有科學依據(jù)。