【English Corner 快樂英語角Week 198】好文趣事

文章一：

Spicy Liquid Helps Relieve Muscle Cramps

If you like it hot, then good news, a recent study has found drinking a spicy liquid like wasabi or hot chilies may offer relief against muscle cramps. This fix was found to be more effective than eating a banana or consuming an energy drink.

Rod MacKinnon, the kayaker and Nobel Prize-winning scientist, said, “The primary origin of the cramp is the nerve, not the muscle.” This new understanding of muscle cramps led MacKinnon to uncover the solution.

MacKinnon began his research after severely cramping up ten years ago. The common causes of muscle cramps did not apply in that case, which led him and his colleague Dr. Bruce Bean to dig deeper – until they concluded that muscle cramps are sometimes due to misfire of the impulses in the nervous system. The researchers hypothesized that they could modify the nervous system by introducing a strong sensory input and by stimulating receptors in the mouth and esophagus – simply with the help of spicy foods.

Using himself as a lab rat, Dr. MacKinnon mixed together different spicy beverages while trying to induce cramps through electrical impulses. His theory proved right that it was far more difficult to produce muscle cramps when he drank the spicy concoction.

He then began testing his theory on others, and it was proven correct time and again.

So far Dr. MacKinnon, in collaboration with Flex Pharma Inc., has come out with a spicy beverage known as HotShot, which is a mix of ginger, cinnamon, and capsicum. The beverage isn’t refreshing, but it is a big help in preventing those painful spasms.

So, if you experience muscle cramps, it may be worth your while to get a bit spicy, don’t you think

1.根據本文，何者敘述錯誤？

(1)能量飲料可緩解抽筋。

(2)MacKinnon發現，抽筋的主要根源是肌肉疲勞。

(3)MacKinnon曾經深受肌肉痙攣所苦。

(4)喝辛辣飲料能有效預防與緩解肌肉抽筋。

2.根據本文，兩位科學家在深入研究後，將肌肉抽筋（痙攣）歸結何因？

3.你有肌肉抽筋的經驗嗎？抽筋發生時，你都如何處置？你會考慮採用本文建議的方法，來預防或緩解抽筋嗎？理由為何？

肌肉痙攣有時是因為神經系統脈衝異常造成。（123RF）

文章二：

Night-Time Leg Cramps

Up to 60 percent of North American adults suffer from occasional night-time leg cramps, a sudden painful contraction usually of the calf muscles that can last from a few seconds up to 10 or more minutes. Doctors do not know what causes these cramps, but most of the time, they are not caused by dehydration or lack of minerals. The leading theory is that most night-time leg cramps are caused by lack of a normal nerve reflex that causes a muscle fiber to relax when it is held in contraction. That is why people who suffer recurrent leg cramps should be checked for:

• all conditions that can cause nerve damage, including lack of vitamin B12 and diabetes

• all conditions that can cause blood vessel damage such as arteriosclerosis

• partially obstructed blood vessels

• pinched nerves in the back

• muscle damage

• abnormal mineral levels

• abnormal hormone levels such as low thyroid

• kidney disease

• arthritis

• dehydration

• use of several medications such as statins, birth control pills, diuretics, steroids, asthma medication such as albuterol, raloxifene, naproxen, or teriparatide (BMJ Clin Evid, 2015:1113). If you have recurrent night-time leg cramps, check with your doctor.

1.根據本文，下列何者有誤？

(1)醫生也不確定為何半夜睡覺會突然腳抽筋。

(2)大多數半夜腳抽筋，可歸結是因為缺水與礦物質。

(3)導致半夜突然腿抽筋的原因眾多

(4)半夜腳抽筋，通常突然發生在小腿肌肉上，疼痛持續幾秒甚至數分鐘。

2.根據本文，主流理論認為多數半夜腳抽筋的原因為何？

3.你有過睡覺到一半突然小腿抽筋的經驗嗎？你個人推測發生的理由為何？讀完本文後，你有何感想？

解答

1. ：（2）

2. ：The leading theory is that most night-time leg cramps are caused by lack of a normal nerve reflex.（主流理論認為，大多數夜間腿抽筋是由於缺乏正常神經反射導致。）

文章來源：英文大紀元時報◇