研究:坐過山車能排出腎結石
Just ask any one of the 300,000 Americans who develop kidney stones: What if the excruciating pain of passing one of those little devils could be prevented by strapping yourself into a make-believe runaway mine train, throwing your hands in the air and enduring G-forces as high as 2.5 for about three minutes? Would you do it?
從30萬患腎結石的美國人中去隨便找個患者問問：若乘坐一輛越礦飛車，飛車如逃離般飛馳而過時手在空中亂舞，還要承受高達2.5G的重力三分鐘，就能免去排出那些小個惡魔時的劇痛，你會去做嗎？
Hell yeah, they’d do it.
廢話，他們會的。
In a bit of medical research inspired by strange and remarkable patient accounts, a Michigan State University urologist reports that, yes, riding a medium-intensity roller coaster such as the Disney theme parks’ Big Thunder Mountain Railroad can result in the painless passing of small, and even a few large, kidney stones.
密歇根州立大學的泌尿專家注意到了一些罕見病例，受其啓發進行了醫學研究。他們得出報告說，是的，玩一趟中等刺激的過山車，比如迪士尼樂園的巨雷山過山車，能無痛排出小粒甚至是一些大顆腎結石。
For best results, ride in the back, where — roller coaster afficionados all seem to agree — the thrills are greatest.
坐在過山車尾部效果最佳，過山車愛好者都知道坐在後面的座位是最刺激的。
Independent of kidney stone volume and location, findings reported Sunday in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Assn. showed that sitting in the back of the roller coaster resulted in an average passage rate of 63.89%.
週日發表在《美國骨科協會雜誌》上的調查報告表示，坐在過山車尾部平均排石率能達到63.89%。
Front-seat rides resulted in a far more modest passage rate of 16.67%.
而坐在頭部，排石率要低得多，只有16.67%。
In what magical kingdom, you may well ask, does someone think to conduct such research?
你完全可以問，得在什麼魔法王國才做得出這種實驗呢？
Dr David D. Wartinger, a professor emeritus at Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, initiated the study after a series of patients reported something almost too strange to believe: In the wake of riding Big Thunder at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., these patients said their kidney stones passed painlessly from the kidney through the narrow duct of the ureter and into the bladder.
密歇根大學骨科醫學退休教授大衛•沃汀格爾是研究發起者，之前有腎結石患者向他講述了樁樁難以置信的怪事：他們在佛羅里達州奧蘭多的迪士尼樂園玩了巨雷山過山車後，體內的腎結石就毫無痛感地從腎臟經由狹窄尿管排到了膀胱內。
In one case, a patient told Wartinger that he passed one kidney stone after each of three consecutive rides on the roller coaster.
有一個案例的病人告訴沃汀格爾，他連着坐了三次過山車，每次都有一顆結石排出。
Using a 3-D printed model of that patient’s kidney, Wartinger and his colleagues implanted three kidney stones of various sizes into the upper, middle or lower passageways of the clear silicone model.
沃汀格爾和同事用3D打印機制造了這位患者腎臟的透明硅膠模型，並把三個大小不一的腎結石放入模型上中下的管道中。
Two of those mineral clusters, which can form as the kidney filters waste from the bloodstream, were small-to-moderate size — 4.5 millmeters and 13.5 mm.
腎結石是腎臟在過濾血流垃圾時形成的礦物質羣。其中兩顆結石小的4.5mm，中等大小的13.5mm。
Those might pass through the duct leading to the bladder without incident but could also cause considerable pain and discomfort as they passed unaided.
這等大小的結石在經由尿管向膀胱自然移動時，可以平安無事，但也能引起劇痛和不適感。
But a third measured 64.6 mm, a size that would rarely pass without treatment — the administration of ultrasound shock waves, called lithotripsy, designed to break up the deposit and allow it to pass.
第三顆結石64.6mm大，這種大小的結石只有藉助超聲衝擊波治療，也即碎石術打碎結石，才能排出體外。
The researchers received permission from Walt Disney World first, then concealed the kidney model in a backpack and rode Big Thunder 20 times, varying their seat position between front and back.
實驗前，研究人員先徵得了迪士尼樂園同意，然後把腎模型藏到揹包中坐了20次巨雷山過山車，期間還變換位置，從頭部換到尾部。
After analyzing the location of those three kidney stones at the end of each ride, the researchers concluded that findings support the anecdotal evidence that a ride on a moderate-intensity roller coaster could benefit some patients with small kidney stones, Wartinger said.
研究人員在每次坐完過山車後都會檢查三顆腎結石的位置，得出瞭如下結論。
When the kidney stone was large, the initial position of the kidney stone affected the likelihood of its passing during the ride.
沃汀格爾說，我們實驗所得驗證了病人所述情況，坐中等刺激的過山車可以幫助一些患者排出小塊結石。
But even those passed two in three times while the silicone model rode the thrill ride.
大顆腎結石所處位置會影響坐過山車時結石排出的可能性，但排出結石時三次有兩次是在硅膠模型經過刺激車程的時候。
Many people in the United States probably live within a few hours’ drive of an amusement park containing a roller coaster with features capable of dislodging calyceal renal calculi, wrote Wartinger and co-author Dr Marc A.
很多美國人住在一家遊樂園幾小時車程內，這家遊樂園有一輛過山車可以幫助人們排掉腎盞結石，沃汀格爾和來自華盛頓州波爾斯波醫生診所的馬克•米切爾一同寫道。
Mitchell of the Doctor’s Clinic in Poulsbo, er coaster therapy might be a good preventive treatment for people who are high risk of developing obstructive kidney stones, wrote Wartinger and Mitchell.
過山車療法對梗阻性腎結石易患人羣可能是個很好的預防療法，沃汀格爾和米切爾在報告中說。
They suggested that patients who have had kidney stones in the past, or women who have had kidney stones and are thinking of becoming pregnant, consider a thrill ride or two in a bid to clear tiny stones before the deposits grow larger.
他們建議過去長過腎結石的患者和有腎結石、正在準備開始妊娠的女性，考慮放開膽子坐一兩次過山車來把微小結石清出，以防長得更大。
Kidney stone sufferers who have had their deposits broken up by lithotripsy might also consider a roller-coaster ride to finish the job, they said.
他們還說，已接受過碎石術治療的腎結石患者也可以考慮坐過山車，以把結石徹底排出體外。
