FACEBOOK-related asthma?

FACEBOOK-related asthma?

網站恐引發氣喘 法新社更新日期:2010/11/19 09:00

（法新社巴黎18日電） 網友會讓你氣喘發作？

這項不尋常的個案研究結果今天公布在醫學期刊「刺胳針」（Lancet）。

義大利醫師表示，1名有氣喘病史的18歲少年，夏天突然好幾次呼吸困難，他在這個時期一般都不會出現氣喘症狀。 憂心忡忡的母親得知，少年因為女友與他分手而難過。這名女孩還把他從臉書（Facebook）好友名單刪除，另外加入許多新的男生朋友。

少年換了暱稱，重新成為前女友的「朋友」，終於又能在臉書上看到前女友照片。 醫師對此相當好奇，要求少年每次上臉書時，戴上呼吸面罩，測量他的呼吸流量。 每次他登入臉書，呼吸流量就驟降，有時減少超過20%。求助精神科醫師後，少年決定停用臉書，氣喘不藥而癒。

研究人員總結得出，登入臉書的壓力引發氣喘，少年對於可以看到前女友的照片，以及與她聯絡，簡直要窒息。

義大利那不勒斯（Naples）1間醫院的5名醫師對此進行研究後投稿發表。
醫師在文中指出：「臉書和一般社交網站，可能是心理壓力的新來源，成為憂鬱的氣喘患者病情惡化的誘發因子。」（譯者：中央社李威翰）

Facebook Triggers Asthma Attacks, Doctors Say

by Honey Berk (Subscribe to Honey Berk's posts)
Nov 18th 2010 6:30PM

0Comments

Filed under: Medical Conditions, In The News, Research Reveals: Teens

Facebook may be to blame for breathing problems. Credit: Corbis
If you've got asthma, you'd better think twice before you log in to Facebook.

That's right, folks. In a letter published today in The Lancet, one of the world's most prestigious medical journals, a team of Italian doctors report that Facebook can trigger asthma attacks.

This nugget of breaking scientific news is apparently based on the case history of an 18-year-old asthmatic boy in Italy whose girlfriend broke up with him, unfriended him on Facebook and then began " 'friending' many new young men," the researchers report.

Like many heartbroken teenage boy these days, the jilted Romeo created a fictitious Facebook account and succeeded in friending his ex again. But every time he accessed her Facebook profile, he became short of breath.

"The sight of (the girl's profile picture) seemed to induce dyspnea, which happened repeatedly on the patient accessing her profile," the authors write.

Since the boy's asthma symptoms had previously been controlled with medication, and the onset of his breathing problems coincided with the recent break-up and subsequent depression, the doctors concluded the two must be related.

To prove their theory, the boy's mother was told to measure his peak expiratory flow -- a measure of how fast a person can exhale, often used to help monitor asthma symptoms -- before and after he logged in to Facebook.

Sure enough, the boy's "post-Facebook" peak flow values were around 20 percent lower, which led the doctors to conclude Facebook was the trigger of his asthma flare-ups.

Here's the scientific part of the equation, according to the authors: Facebook, and social networks in general, could be a new source of psychological stress, which could trigger asthma symptoms in people who are depressed.

"Considering the high prevalence of asthma, especially among young people, we suggest that this type of trigger be considered in the assessment of asthma exacerbations," the authors conclude.

And what of the poor Italian boy? The authors note he resigned to stop logging in to Facebook, with the help of a psychiatrist, and his asthma attacks stopped.