食物太乾淨竟可導致腸道疾病?
炎炎夏日，患腸道疾病的人羣大幅增加、特別是兒童的腸胃疾病頻發，通常醫生會給的建議都是建議患兒平時加強注意飲食衛生，特別是每日必須攝入的食物，比如牛奶、麪包等等。然而，最近一些專家針對這些腸道疾病提出了自己的一些看法，他們認爲“過度保持食物的衛生”，換句話說，讓食物做到100%除菌甚至有可能提高腸道敏感疾病還有哮喘的可能性大大提高。反之，平常是自己經常處於有菌環境中反而能使得自己的免疫系統重新啓動，恢復日常運轉。此外，專家還發現“剖腹產”可以導致免疫系統受損，還有早期使用抗生素等等。
Gut allergies are difficult to pinpoint. Some sufferers have to wait years to get a proper diagnosis, suffering pain and losing valuable time at school, according to Dr Nikhil Thapar of Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. Dr Thapar, a consultant gastroenterologist and clinician scientist, hopes tests will be developed within a ‘couple of years’ that are faster and more sophisticated than existing methods which include endoscopy and eliminating certain foods.
一般來說，腸道過敏症狀很難被確診，這種疾病要花幾年的時間去診斷。來自倫敦的醫生Dr Nikhi Thapar希望關於腸道過敏疾病的確診能夠效率更高一些，效果更好一些，當然這些日常的檢查手段包括內窺鏡檢查還有進行食物測試等等。
He said his unit investigates hundreds of children a year with gut allergies. A rising number are affected by common foods such as cow’s milk, wheat, soya, eggs, celery, kiwi fruit and other fruit and vegetables. Food allergy can take the form of a sudden life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis, as well as eczema or an itchy rash. Studies estimate 4 per cent of children have a food allergy.
據醫生Dr Nikhi Thapar瞭解，每年有上百兒童感染腸道疾病，這些疾病大都因食物所引起，容易引起腸道敏感疾病的食物有很多，比如：牛奶、小麥、大豆、雞蛋、芹菜、奇異果等等。這些食物容易引起腸道的過敏性反應、溼疹、以及發癢性皮疹等等。據悉，有4%的兒童感染過腸道過敏性疾病。
Modifying the diet is still a major part of treatment although drugs can help. Doctors eliminate various foods from the diet and then re-introduce them to see if they cause a reaction. ‘It used to be thought that children grew out of gut allergy but they don’t necessarily do so’ said Dr Thapar. A more rapid version of an endoscopy to take tissues samples from the bowel via a tube sent down through the oesophagus would reduce time spent in hospital, he said.
加強對食物的管理比起服用藥物而言，更能有助於消滅腸道敏感性疾病，醫生一般都建議進行常規的食物測試，來看看患者對食物的反映。
