每天刷牙兩次可預防腸道癌

　　Brushing your teeth regularly could help to prevent bowel cancer， a study suggests。

　　據(jù)研究顯示，定期刷牙可有助于預防腸道癌。

　　This is because the mouth bacteria that cause bleeding gums can travel via the blood to the bowel where they could trigger cancer or worsen existing tumours。

　　這是因為人口中有可以引起牙齦出血的細菌，而這些細菌能夠通過血液進入腸道，從而引發(fā)癌癥或者惡化已有的腫瘤癥狀。

　　The bug fusobacterium has been found to be hundreds of times more common in cancerous tumours than in normal cells。

　　和正常細胞相比，在惡性腫瘤細胞中發(fā)現(xiàn)“梭桿菌(fusobacterium)”的幾率要高幾百倍。

　　Now researchers have found that the microbes can make pre-cancerous growths in the bowel turn cancerous。 They can also make any existing tumours in the bowel grow larger。

　　現(xiàn)在研究員們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種細菌能夠使得腸道中的良性腫瘤惡化演變成為癌癥。

　　Scientists are investigating how the bacteria make their way to the gut through the bloodstream。 One theory is that it may happen if a person has bleeding gums。

　　目前科學家們正在研究這種細菌到底是如何通過血液循環(huán)進入腸道的。有人提出，如果一個人牙齦出血的話，那么這種細菌就有可能進入腸道。

　　The researchers found that the bacteria have a protein that allows them to stick to sugar molecules attached to benign growths called polyps as well as cancer tumours in the bowel。

　　研究者們發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種細菌攜帶有一種蛋白質(zhì)，這種蛋白質(zhì)使得它們可以黏在糖分子上，從而依附在腸道內(nèi)促進息肉或者癌癥腫瘤的生長。

　　The bacteria are anaerobic – they do not breathe oxygen – so are well suited to live in the bowel。

　　這種細菌是一種厭氧菌(不蓄意呼吸氧氣)，因此它們很適合在腸道內(nèi)生存。

　　After sticking to the polyps or tumours， the presence of the bacteria promotes their growth， according to the research published in Cell Growth and Microbe。

　　據(jù)這份發(fā)表在《細菌生長與微生物》雜志上的研究來看，在附著在息肉或者腫瘤上之后，這種細菌將會促進它們的生長。

　　By targeting this process， the researchers believe that it may lead to new drugs to treat bowel cancer which around one in 20 of us will develop in our lifetimes。

　　通過對這一過程的研究，研究者們認為這有可能會導致開發(fā)出新藥物來治療腸癌(每20個人之中就會有一個人患腸癌)。

　　Co-author Wendy Garrett， a professor at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health， said a greater understanding of the mechanism may help stop people developing cancerous tumours。

　　來自哈佛大學TH Chan公共衛(wèi)生學院的教授是溫蒂·加勒特是這項研究的聯(lián)合作者，她指出對這一機制的更進一步理解有可能幫助人們不再患癌癥。

　　She added： ‘Alternatively， and perhaps more importantly， our findings suggest that drugs targeting the same or similar mechanisms of bacterial sugar-binding proteins could potentially prevent these bacteria from exacerbating colorectal cancer。’

　　她補充說道：“或者，也許更加重要的是，我們的研究結(jié)果表明如果立足于相同或者相似的細菌糖結(jié)合蛋白機制的研究，那么就有可能防止這些細菌惡化腸癌。”

　　Fusobacterium worsens gum disease in the mouth because it acts as an ‘anchor’ around teeth and gums for other bacteria， helping to cause a biofilm – a ‘mat’ of different bacteria that eat away at the gums， causing inflammation， and loosening the teeth。

　　口腔內(nèi)的梭桿菌可以惡化牙齦病，因為這種細菌就好像其他細菌的“錨”一樣環(huán)繞在牙齒和牙齦的周圍，從而有助于形成一個生物膜--各種細菌在這里堆積厚厚的一層，把牙齦周圍都侵蝕殆盡，導致發(fā)炎、牙齒松動。

　　As well as worsening cancer， the bugs have also been found to worsen the bowel condition ulcerative colitis， which in turn is also linked to cancer。

　　除開能夠惡化癌癥外，這種細菌也能夠惡化腸道條件，導致潰瘍性結(jié)腸炎，這反過來又和癌癥有關。