2009/10/08

’Booze therapy’ for brain injury 腦部創傷的酒精治療

◎鄭寺音

A dose of alcohol may be a good treatment for people with head injuries, emergency doctors suggest. Their basis for this is the discovery that people appear less likely to die following brain trauma if they have alcohol in their bloodstream.

急診醫師認為,一劑量的酒精,對有腦傷的人來說或許是好的治療。他們是根據如果人在腦部創傷之後血液中有酒精,似乎比較不會死亡的發現,來得出上述結果。

It could be that alcohol dampens the body’s inflammatory response to injury, the US team told Archives of Surgery. But they stressed that alcohol can cause medical complications and is contributory to many accidents.

這個美國團隊告訴外科文獻,這有可能是酒精抑制身體對受傷的發炎反應,但他們強調,酒精可能造成醫療併發症及許多意外。

Experts cautioned people should not interpret the findings as an excuse to drink more alcohol. The amount of alcohol consumed appears to be important - too little and there is no effect, too much and the beneficial effects are lost, studies on animals suggest.

專家警告,人們應該不要將這份發現,解讀為喝更多酒的藉口。動物研究顯示,喝酒的量顯得很重要,太少的話沒有效果,太多的話,好處就會流失。

Experts believe the right dose of alcohol, however, stops the cascade of swelling, inflammation and further destruction of brain cells, known as secondary brain injury.

但專家認為,喝酒的量對了,可阻止接連發生腫脹、發炎以及腦細胞進一步毀滅,也就是俗稱的腦部二次傷害。

The latest work, based on more than 38,000 moderate-to-severe head trauma patients, is the largest yet to look at the effects of alcohol on brain injury survival.

這份最新研究是根據3萬8千多名中度到重度頭部創傷病患的研究而來,是目前針對酒精對腦部創傷生還影響的最新研究。

新聞辭典

dampen:動詞,抑制,使沮喪。例句:The bad news dampened our spirits. (這個噩耗讓我們沮喪。)

complication :名詞,併發症。例句:A hospital’s ability to rescue patients from postoperative complications may be a key factor in surgical mortality rates, researchers said. (研究人員說,一家醫院挽救病人手術後併發症的能力,可能是手術致死率的一個關鍵因素。)

contributory:形容詞,促成的。例句:Too little exercise is a contributory factor in heart disease.(太少運動是促成心臟病的因素。)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I have known several kind of brain injury rehabilitation but the booze therapy is really fascinating.