Don: Oh, no, Ya?l, I think I'm having a medical emergency. Quick! Call an ambulance.
Ya?l: A medical emergency, Don? Are you sure? You look fine to me!
D: But I'm not. This morning, I had a terrible stomach ache. And now, now look at my tongue. Oh, it's all black. Surely, I'm dying, and you don't even care!
Y: Relax, Don! Of course I care. But you really dying?
D: But my tongue......
Y: I can tell you exactly what the problem is!
D: You can? But you are not a doctor!
Y: But I do read the contrary indications before taking medicine.
D: Un-huh!
Y: You said you had a stomachache, right? And I'll bet you 5 dollars that you have took some Pepto Bismol for it?
D: Wow! You must be psychic. How do you know?
Y: Well, the active ingredient in Pepto Bismol is a compound called bismuth subsalicylate.
D: Bismuth subsalicylate, so?
Y: This compound has anti-diarrheal, anti-bacterial, and antacid effect on the digestive tract.
D: Which is why Pepto helps with stomach discomfort.
Y: Right, but the thing is, when the bismuth combines with the trace amounts of sulfur in your saliva and in your gastrointestinal tract, it reacts to form a black substance called bismuth sulfide.
D: Bismuth sulfide, sounds dangerous!
Y: It isn't. But that's where the discoloration on your tongue comes from. And bismuth sulfide can also temporarily darken the stool. It’s a common enough side-effect that it’s listed in the package information, which you really should get in the habit of reading.
In a couple of days everything will back to normal.
D: Ya?l, you saved my life.
Y: Not really...
黑舌頭與胃痛
Don: 我的天吶,Y,我想我是染上什么急病啦!趕快!叫救護(hù)車!
Ya?l: 急病?你確定?你看起來(lái)氣色不錯(cuò)啊!
D: 我不覺(jué)得我很好啊。今天早上我胃疼得特別厲害。可現(xiàn)在…現(xiàn)在,你看我的舌頭。整個(gè)舌頭都是黑的!好吧,我都要死了,你一點(diǎn)也不關(guān)心我!
Y: Don,別太緊張好不好!我絕對(duì)是關(guān)心你的,但你確定你就要“去”了?
D: 可我的舌頭……
Y: 我可以告訴你你的舌頭究竟是怎么回事!
D: 你?可你并不是醫(yī)生啊!
Y: 但是我每次吃藥之前都會(huì)看說(shuō)明書(shū),看服藥后會(huì)有什么副作用。
D: 嗯哼!
Y: 你說(shuō)你胃痛,對(duì)吧?我和你賭5美元,你是不是服用了堿式水楊酸鉍口服混懸液?
D: 神啦!你怎么知道的呢?
Y: 堿式水楊酸鉍中的有效成分為一種叫做堿式水楊酸鹽的化合物。
D: 堿式水楊酸鹽,所以說(shuō)?
Y: 這種化合物作用于消化道,具有抗腹瀉、抗菌以及解酸的作用。
D: 這就是為什么堿式水楊酸鉍能緩解胃部不適。
Y: 嗯。但是,鉍與唾液和胃腸道中微量的硫作用會(huì)生成一種黑色的物質(zhì)——硫化鉍。
D: 硫化鉍,聽(tīng)起來(lái)都覺(jué)得很危險(xiǎn)!
Y: 這倒不是。但硫化鉍就是將你的舌頭變黑的罪魁禍?zhǔn)?。而且,硫化鉍還會(huì)使排泄物變黑。這是很常見(jiàn)的一種副作用,藥品的包裝盒上就列出來(lái)了的。所以啊,在吃藥前一定要養(yǎng)成看說(shuō)明的好習(xí)慣。放心了吧,要不了幾天就恢復(fù)正常了。
D: Ya?l,你救了我一命啊。
Y: 怎么會(huì)……