平時常嚼口香糖 患偏頭痛風險增大
Some 87 per cent of gum-chewing teenagers who suffer regular headaches can cure themselves by giving up chewing gum, new research suggests.
最新研究表明，那些愛嚼口香糖又常容易頭痛的青少年中，87%的人會在停止咀嚼口香糖後症狀消失。Scientists at the Tel Aviv University-affiliated Meir Medical Centre, in Israel, found that most adolescents who give up the habit experience significant relief.
以色列特拉維夫大學附屬梅爾醫學中心的科學家發現，絕大多數青少年在改掉咀嚼口香糖的習慣後頭痛症狀明顯減輕。The scientists, led by Dr Nathan Watemberg, believe the finding could allow doctors to cure thousands of patients of migraines and tension headaches without the need for additional tests or medication.
由Nathan Watemberg醫生領銜的研究組認爲，該發現將使醫生在不借助任何額外測試和藥物治療的前提下治癒數千患者的偏頭痛和緊張性頭痛。
‘Out of our 30 patients, 26 reported significant improvement and 19 had complete headache resolution,’ said Dr Watemberg.
Watemberg醫生表示，（在該方法的引導下）參與實驗的30名患者中，26名的症狀有顯著改善，其中有19位患者頭痛症狀完全消失。‘20 of the improved patients later agreed to go back to chewing gum, and all of them reported an immediate relapse of symptoms.’
“20名症狀緩和的患者隨後同意恢復咀嚼口香糖習慣，然後他們的頭痛症狀很快復發。”Headaches are common in childhood and become more common and frequent during adolescence, particularly among girls.
頭痛現象普遍存在於兒童時期，並且在青少年時期日益普遍和發作頻繁，女生中這種現象尤爲明顯。Typical triggers are stress, tiredness, lack of sleep, heat, video games, noise, sunlight, smoking, missed meals, and menstruation.
常見的觸發因素包括壓力、疲勞、缺乏睡眠、發熱、視頻遊戲、噪音、日光、吸菸、不吃飯和生理期。But until now there has been little medical research on the relationship between gum chewing and headaches.
但直到現在，很少有關於嚼口香糖和頭痛之間關係的醫學研究。At Meir Medical Centre's Child Neurology Unit and Child Development Centre, Dr Watemberg noticed that many patients who reported headaches were daily gum chewers.
在梅爾醫學中心兒童神經病學和發展中心，Watemberg醫生注意到很多父母說起換頭痛的孩子都常嚼口香糖。Dr Watemberg found that in many cases, when patients stopped chewing gum at his suggestion, they got substantially better.
Watemberg發現很多案例中，當父母根據他的建議不讓孩子再嚼口香糖時，孩子們頭痛的狀況會大爲改善。Taking a more statistical approach, he asked 30 patients between six and 19 years old, who had chronic migraine or tension headaches and chewed gum daily, to quit chewing gum for one month. They had chewed gum for at least an hour a day and some had chewed for more than six hours a day.
爲了更科學地研究，他要求參與實驗的30名6-19歲間，患有慢性偏頭痛和緊張性頭痛的哎嚼口香糖患者在一個月內停止嚼口香糖。這些患者平時每天至少嚼一個小時口香糖，有的甚至每天嚼口香糖超過6小時。After a month without gum, 19 of the 30 patients reported that their headaches went away entirely and seven reported a decrease in the frequency and intensity of headaches.
一個月沒嚼口香糖後，19名患者報告頭痛症狀完全消失，7人報告頭痛發作頻率和強度均有所下降。To test the results, 20 of them agreed to resume gum chewing for two weeks. All of them reported a return of their symptoms within days.
爲了測試結果，其中20人回覆嚼口香糖的習慣兩個星期，然後所有人表示幾天後頭痛發作。Two previous studies linked gum chewing to headaches, but offered different explanations.
之前有兩個關於嚼口香糖和頭痛之間關係的研究，但得出完全不同的結論。One study suggested that gum chewing causes stress to the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ - the place where the jaw meets the skull.
其中一個結論認爲咀嚼口香糖的動作導致顳頜關節——下頷與頭骨結合處的壓力。The other study blamed aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in most popular chewing gums.
另一個研究則歸咎於阿斯巴甜——口香糖中最常見的人工甜味劑。TMJ dysfunction has been shown to cause headaches, while the evidence is mixed on aspartame. Dr Watemberg favours the TMJ explanation.
顳骨關節功能紊亂已被證明會導致頭痛，但其中的證據與阿斯巴甜有關。Watemberg醫生傾向於顳骨關節功能紊亂導致頭痛的結論。Gum only has a flavour for a short period of time, suggesting it does not contain much aspartame, he says.
他說，口香糖的口味只能停留一小段時間，其中阿斯巴甜的含量不高。If aspartame caused headaches, he reasons, there would be a lot more headaches from diet drinks and artificially sweetened products which also contain it.
如果阿斯巴甜引起頭痛，那膳食飲料和其他含有阿斯巴甜的人工加糖食品會導致更多的頭痛。On the other hand, people chew gum well after the taste is gone, putting a significant burden on the TMJ, which is already the most used joint in the body, he says.
另一方面，人們在口香糖甜味消失後繼續咀嚼，會給身體最常用的顳骨關節帶來更多負擔。‘Every doctor knows that overuse of the TMJ will cause headaches,’ said Dr Watemberg. ‘I believe this is what's happening when children and teenagers chew gum excessively.’
他說道，“每個醫生都知道顳頜關節負擔過重會引起頭痛，我相信青少年們過度咀嚼口香糖導致了這一狀況。”
