《中英對照讀新聞》Botox useful for preventing frequent migraines肉毒桿菌毒素對預防經常性偏頭痛有效

◎ 陳宜君

Botulinum toxin A (Botox) injections can help prevent migraines in patients who have headaches almost every day, according to study results reported at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society in Philadelphia.

注射A型肉毒桿菌毒素（俗稱Botox），可幫助幾乎每天都會頭痛的病患預防偏頭痛，根據美國頭痛協會於費城舉行的年度會議中所發表的一項研究結果顯示。

“Our study focused on migraine patients with chronic daily headache, which is defined as having a headache at least 15 days per month,” said lead author Dr. David Dodick , from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. “These patients represent a minority of all migraine sufferers, but they account for at least 50 percent of the patients seen in specialty headache clinics.”

「我們的研究聚焦於有慢性每日頭痛的偏頭痛患者，慢性每日偏頭痛的定義是每月至少有15天會出現頭痛，」來自亞利桑納州蘇格茲戴爾「梅友診所」的主要作者大衛．多迪克醫師表示。「這些患者在所有偏頭痛患者中佔少數，但他們在專治頭痛診所的門診病患中至少佔了50%。」

The idea of using Botox as a preventative agent for migraines came in 1992 when a Los Angeles plastic surgeon noticed fewer headaches in a patient who was being treated with the agent for its skin-smoothing effects. Since then, several studies have evaluated botulinum toxin as a migraine preventative.

使用肉毒桿菌毒素作為偏頭痛預防藥物的構想，始自洛杉磯一位整形外科醫師在1992年時注意到，一名患者原本是為了讓肌膚平滑而接受這種藥劑治療時，頭痛次數減少了。在這之後，數項研究都評定肉毒桿菌毒素是一種偏頭痛預防藥物。

新聞辭典

migraine：名詞，偏頭痛。頭痛的泛稱是headache，亦可用於表示棘手難題。例句：Trying to make the children eat is one big headache. （要小孩子吃飯，是一件令人頭痛的事）。

specialty：名詞，指某項專長或專門研究的領域，亦可當某地特產解釋。例句：I recommend the vegetable pie - it's the specialty of the restaurant. （我推薦這道蔬菜餡餅–它是這家餐館的招牌菜。）

plastic：此字當名詞是指塑膠、塑料，當形容詞則是具有塑性的、人造的意思。plastic surgeon是整形外科醫師，整形手術則是 plastic surgery。例句：She had plastic surgery on her face. （她的臉動了整形手術。）