美國婦人服用抗生素後舌頭上竟長出黑毛
When Dr. Yasir Hamad heard that a patient's tongue had turned black, he decided he needed to see it for himself.
在亞西爾·哈馬德醫生聽說一位病人的舌頭變黑了的時候，他決定自己要去一看究竟。"It was the typical textbook case of a condition known as black hairy tongue," said Hamad, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
聖路易斯華盛頓大學醫學院醫學系助理教授哈馬德表示：“這是科書般的典型案例。”Despite the name, black hairy tongue isn't hair at all. It refers to tiny nubbins on the tongue, called papillae, that have grown longer and turned black.
儘管有這麼個名字，但舌頭上的黑毛根本就不是頭髮。它其實是舌頭上的小疙瘩，稱爲乳頭狀突起，當它長得更長時，就會變黑。
These bumps, normally less than a millimeter long, can reach between 12 and 18 millimeters, according to a review last year.
去年的一份報告顯示，這些突起正常情況下不到一毫米長，但變成腫塊時可以達到12到18毫米。As the papillae grow, they are thought to trap microscopic food particles, giving bacteria and other microbes a chance to thrive on the tongue -- causing a strange discoloration.
隨着乳突的生長，它們可以捕獲微小的食物顆粒，這就給了細菌和其他微生物在舌頭上生長的機會，最終導致奇怪的變色。Black hairy tongue is an uncommon and harmless side effect of some drugs, but it can also be linked to smoking, poor oral hygiene and certain medical conditions.
黑毛舌也是一些藥物的副作用，少見卻無害，但也可能與吸菸、口腔衛生不良和某些疾病有關。
Hamad's patient, a 55-year-old woman, had received an antibiotic called minocycline to deal with an wound infection after a motor vehicle accident, according to his report. Within a week, her tongue turned black, she began to feel nauseated, and there was a foul taste in her mouth.
哈馬德的病人是一名55歲的婦女，他的報告顯示，她在一次機動車事故後接受了一種名爲二甲胺四環素的抗生素治療傷口感染。之後不到一個星期，舌頭就變黑了，她開始感到噁心，而且嘴裏有股難聞的味道。
"As scary as this looks, the good part is that it's actually reversible," Hamad said. Four weeks after doctors changed her medication regimen, the patient's tongue returned to its normal color.
哈馬德表示：“雖然看起來很可怕，但好在它其實是可逆的。”在醫生改變她的治療方案四周後，病人的舌頭恢復了正常的顏色。It's unclear exactly how uncommon this is, Hamad said, but it's the first case he's seen in 10 years of practicing.
哈馬德稱，目前還不清楚這種情況有多罕見，但這是他10年來第一次遇到這種情況。If your tongue starts to look suspiciously black and hairy, he added, don't panic, and "check with your primary doctor, because some other conditions can resemble this."
他補充說，如果你的舌頭開始變得黑乎乎、毛茸茸的，不要驚慌，“去找你的主治醫生看看，因爲有些其他的病症可能會跟這個相似。”
