美國婦人服用抗生素后舌頭上竟長出黑毛

When Dr. Yasir Hamad heard that a patient's tongue had turned black, he decided he needed to see it fo himself.

在亞西爾·哈馬德醫(yī)生聽說一位病人的舌頭變黑了的時候，他決定自己要去一看究竟。

"It was the typical textbook case of a condition known as black hairy tongue," said Hamad, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

圣路易斯華盛頓大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院醫(yī)學(xué)系助理教授哈馬德表示：“這是科書般的典型案例。”

Despite the name, black hairy tongue isn't hair at all. It refers to tiny nubbins on the tongue, called papillae, that have grown longer and turned black.

盡管有這么個名字，但舌頭上的黑毛根本就不是頭發(fā)。它其實是舌頭上的小疙瘩，稱為乳頭狀突起，當(dāng)它長得更長時，就會變黑。

These bumps, normally less than a millimeter long, can reach between 12 and 18 millimeters, according to a review last year.

去年的一份報告顯示，這些突起正常情況下不到一毫米長，但變成腫塊時可以達(dá)到12到18毫米。

As the papillae grow, they are thought to trap microscopic food particles, giving bacteria and other microbes a chance to thrive on the tongue -- causing a strange discoloration.

隨著乳突的生長，它們可以捕獲微小的食物顆粒，這就給了細(xì)菌和其他微生物在舌頭上生長的機會，最終導(dǎo)致奇怪的變色。

Black hairy tongue is an uncommon and harmless side effect of some drugs, but it can alsobe linked to smoking, poor oral hygiene and certain medical conditions.

黑毛舌也是一些藥物的副作用，少見卻無害，但也可能與吸煙、口腔衛(wèi)生不良和某些疾病有關(guān)。

Hamad's patient, a 55-year-old woman, had received an antibiotic called minocycline to deal with an wound infection after a motor vehicle accident, according to his report. Within a week, her tongue turned black, she began to feel nauseated, and there was a foul taste in her mouth.

哈馬德的病人是一名55歲的婦女，他的報告顯示，她在一次機動車事故后接受了一種名為二甲胺四環(huán)素的抗生素治療傷口感染。之后不到一個星期，舌頭就變黑了，她開始感到惡心，而且嘴里有股難聞的味道。

"As scary as this looks, the good part is that it's actually reversible," Hamad said. Four weeks after doctors changed her medication regimen, the patient's tongue returned to its normal color.

哈馬德表示：“雖然看起來很可怕，但好在它其實是可逆的。”在醫(yī)生改變她的治療方案四周后，病人的舌頭恢復(fù)了正常的顏色。

It's unclear exactly how uncommon this is, Hamad said, but it's the first case he's seen in 10 years of practicing.

哈馬德稱，目前還不清楚這種情況有多罕見，但這是他10年來第一次遇到這種情況。

If your tongue starts to look suspiciously black and hairy, he added, don't panic, and "check with your primary doctor, because some other conditions can resemble this."

他補充說，如果你的舌頭開始變得黑乎乎、毛茸茸的，不要驚慌，“去找你的主治醫(yī)生看看，因為有些其他的病癥可能會跟這個相似。”