吃巧克力能治咳嗽?英國研發止咳新藥

Chocolate could provide the key to tackling a persistent cough, researchers are carryingout the final stages of clinical trials on a drug that contains theobromine, an ingredient naturallypresent in cocoa and the trials are successful, the drug could be on the market withintwo years.

國際在線教育消息：研究者們通過實驗發現，巧克力或成爲醫治久咳不止的一劑藥方。他們研製了一種含有可可鹼的成分的藥物，而可可和巧克力中便富含可可鹼，這項藥物已經入了最後的臨牀實驗階段，若實驗成功，藥物有望於兩年之內投放市場。

　　More than seven million Britons suffer from a persistent cough, defined as one that lasts for morethan two have asthma-like symptoms while others suffer from heartburn. But most widely available cough products soothe the symptoms rather than deal with the cause, and havebeen criticised for side effects such as e are safety concerns about side effects from other products that are codeine-based, which use a chemical called an opioid.

全英大概有超過七百萬的人口正經受久咳的折磨，咳嗽可能會持續一到兩個禮拜，有的會伴隨着哮喘的症狀，另外一些則會出現胃灼熱的情況。而大多數治療咳嗽的藥物僅僅是緩解了表面的症狀，而不是根除致病源頭，而同時還會帶來的諸如嗜睡的副作用也備受批評。而其他鎮痛止咳劑中含有可待因（鴉片的主要成分），由此引發副作用也使人們對於它的安全性產生了懷疑。

Previous research by London’s National Heart and Lung Institute found that theobromine is 33 per centmore effective than codeine at stopping coughing. It works directly on the vagus nerve, which isresponsible for persistent arch in South Korea has shown that theobromine has none of the side effects associated withstandard drug treatments for persistent cough.

英國的科學家發現，可可鹼的止咳功效要比可待因高出近三成，它直接作用於迷走神經，而這便是導致久咳不止的根源所在。韓國醫學學者在試驗中也發現，可可鹼完全不會造成普通止咳藥所引發的副作用。