美国国家公共电台 NPR The Super-Hot Pepper That Sent A Man To The ER

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now the case of the hot pepper and the horrible headache. NPR's Richard Harris took a closer look at this medical curiosity.

RICHARD HARRIS, BYLINE¹: A young doctor named Kulothungan Gunasekaran has a knack² for finding odd events. On nine separate occasions, he has turned an unusual observation into a published case report in the medical literature.

KULOTHUNGAN GUNASEKARAN: So this one, I think, is the most interesting one which we encountered.

HARRIS: Gunasekaran was finishing his residency at the Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, N.Y., when an otherwise healthy 34-year-old man came to the emergency room with a terrible headache. It had come on incredibly suddenly. Doctors call this a thunderclap headache. And the man's problems started when he ate an exceptionally spicy³ Carolina Reaper⁴ pepper.

GUNASEKARAN: He ate the pepper. He developed the headache, which got better. He went home.

HARRIS: But relief was not to last. Another thunderclap headache sent the unidentified man to the emergency room.

Why did he eat this pepper?

GUNASEKARAN: He was in a contest.

HARRIS: And he paid dearly for the experience. Doctors ran a battery of medical tests and, ultimately, a brain scan called a CT angiogram.

GUNASEKARAN: Which showed some narrowing of blood vessels⁶ in the brain.

HARRIS: That could explain his symptoms. The man was admitted to the hospital to treat his prolonged headache. Gunasekaran wasn't his doctor but caught wind of the story and decided⁷ to write it up for a journal called BMJ Case Reports. His research led him to YouTube, where - no big surprise - there are plenty of videos of people trying to eat whole Carolina Reaper peppers.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Today, me, Omar and the boys are going to be trying the Carolina Reaper challenge.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Screaming).

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "WORLDS HOTTEST PEPPER CHALLENGE (GONE WRONG) - CAROLINA REAPER PEPPER - 2.2 MILLION SCOVILLE UNITS")

LIZZY WURST: Today, we're going to be eating the Carolina Reaper pepper. These are the world's hottest pepper. Oh, my god. (Screaming).

HARRIS: The occasional ambulance ride aside, Gunasekaran's conclusion was that most people didn't suffer dire⁸ consequences from eating these peppers.

GUNASEKARAN: On YouTube, they were eating those peppers, and they were able to tolerate.

HARRIS: The case report was a new one on Todd Schwedt, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic and an expert on thunderclap headaches.

TODD SCHWEDT: So I had never heard of one being triggered by a Carolina Reaper or any other chili⁹ pepper.

HARRIS: Schwedt says it makes sense, though, because the active chemical in hot peppers, capsaicin, can constrict¹⁰ blood vessels in the brain, as happened to the patient in New York. The man's symptoms were classic for a thunderclap headache.

SCHWEDT: Folks will describe this as if they felt like something exploded in their head, or they got hit in the back of the head. So it's really how quickly it becomes very severe that makes it a thunderclap headache.

HARRIS: And it's serious business. Sometimes these headaches can be triggered by a dangerous event, like a burst or torn blood vessel⁵ in the brain.

SCHWEDT: When someone has a thunderclap headache, it should be considered an emergency. And it needs to be evaluated urgently.

HARRIS: The study of the pepper eater had a happy ending. Five weeks later, he returned to the hospital for another scan. And the blood vessels in his brain were back to normal. Dr. Gunasekaran has now moved on to Henry Ford¹¹ Hospital in Detroit and is keeping alert for more curious cases to report. Richard Harris, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF HIDDEN ORCHESTRA'S "SPOKEN (SUBMERSE REMIX)"

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 knack   

n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法

参考例句：

• He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。
• Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难，但有窍门。

3 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

4 reaper   

n.收割者，收割机

参考例句：

• The painting is organized about a young reaper enjoying his noonday rest.这幅画的画面设计成一个年轻的割禾人在午间休息。
• A rabbit got caught in the blades of the reaper.一只兔子被卷到收割机的刀刃中去了。

5 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

6 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

9 chili   

n.辣椒

参考例句：

• He helped himself to another two small spoonfuls of chili oil.他自己下手又加了两小勺辣椒油。
• It has chocolate,chili,and other spices.有巧克力粉，辣椒，和其他的调味品。

10 constrict   

v.压缩，收缩，阻塞

参考例句：

• Men and women alike have been constricted by traditional sexual roles.男性和女性同样受到传统性别角色的束缚。
• Severe migraine can be treated with a drug which constricts the blood vessels.严重的偏头疼可以用一种收缩血管的药物进行治疗。

11 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。