Does stress cause pimples? - Claudia Aguirre

壓力會造成青春痘嗎？ - Claudia Aguirre

Translator: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Hao-Wei Chang 審譯者: Jephian Lin

She's only a few feet away.

她就在不遠處。

The closer he gets, the more nervous he becomes,

他越走愈近， 也越來越緊張，

the budding zit on his nose growing bigger and bigger until it practically eclipses his face.

鼻子上才剛長出來的青春痘 慢慢變大、大到幾乎要遮住整個臉。

She looks at him hovering nearby, sees the massive zit, and giggles.

女孩看到在徘徊的男孩， 然後看到臉上的大痘痘，就笑了。

He slumps away, feeling sick.

男孩低著頭失望地走了。

Stress can sure make a mess, and it happens to both teens and adults.

壓力的確能讓 青少年和成人變得一團糟。

But how does it happen?

但到底是為什麼呢？

Let's rewind to before the zit, to before Justin even sees his crush.

我們倒帶一下， 回到賈斯汀看見夢中情人前。

Already late for school, Justin got to class just in time to hear the teacher say "pop quiz."

上學已經遲到了， 賈斯汀剛進教室就聽到要小考。

He hadn't done his homework the night before, and felt more unprepared

因為昨天沒做作業， 讓賈斯汀比他作業要寫的

than the ambushed World War II soldiers he was supposed to write about.

二戰突擊兵更緊張。

A sudden rush of panic swept over his body, leaving him with sweaty palms,

一股惶恐襲來， 讓他手冒冷汗，

a foggy mind and a racing heart.

心跳加速，不知所措。

He stumbled out of class in a daze, and ran straight into his all-time crush, spiking up his stress.

他倉皇離開教室，撞到他的夢中情人， 這讓他感覺到更加緊張。

Stress is a general biological response to a potential danger.

壓力是對潛在危險產生一種生物反應。

In primitive caveman terms, stress can make you fight for your life,

以原始人為例， 壓力讓你殺出生路，

or run for your life, if, for example, you're confronted by a hungry saber-tooth tiger.

或逃命 —— 像是遇到飢餓的劍齒虎。

Special chemicals called stress hormones run through your body,

被稱作壓力賀爾蒙的 特殊化學物質流竄全身，

giving you more oxygen and power to run away from danger

給你更多的氧氣和力量以逃離危險

or to face it and fight for your life,

或是面對並為生存而戰，

hence the term "fight or flight."

所以被稱為「戰或逃反應」。

But when you don't fight, or take flight, you face the plight.

如果你不逃也不戰， 你就會大難臨頭。

When we're taking final exams, sitting in traffic or pondering pollution,

在期末考時、卡在車陣中、 或思考環境污染時，

we internalize stress.

都會讓我們隱約感到壓力。

It all begins in the brain.

而一切都從大腦開始。

The hypothalamus, the master controller of your hormones,

下視丘是控制賀爾蒙的主宰，

releases something called corticotropin-releasing hormone.

它會釋放一種叫 「促腎上腺皮質釋放素」的物質。

This triggers the pituitary gland,

這會促進腦下垂體，

a pea-sized gland found at the base of the brain,

這個豌豆般大 在你腦部深處的腺體，

to release adrenocorticotropic hormone

釋放促腎上腺皮質素，

which then stimulates the adrenal gland sitting on top of the kidneys

讓它刺激你腎臟上方的腎上腺

to release cortisol, the major stress hormone.

釋放主要的壓力賀爾蒙：腎上腺皮質醇。

These natural chemicals are a great help when you need to run away quickly,

這種天然的化合物 可以讓你跑得更快，

or do superhuman feats of courage,

或激發出超人般的勇氣，

but when you're simply sitting, these stress hormones collect in the body and affect your overall health.

但你若不為所動， 賀爾蒙累積的結果會影響健康。

Stress hormones increase inflammation in the body,

壓力賀爾蒙促進發炎反應，

suppress the immune system,

壓抑免疫系統，

which makes you more susceptible to infection by acne-causing bacteria,

這讓你更容易受到 造成粉刺的細菌的感染，

and can even increase oil production in the skin.

也會增加皮膚油脂的分泌。

And this is the perfect storm for forming a pimple.

加起來就是產生青春痘完美組合。

Cortisol is a major stress hormone involved in making skin cells

腎上腺皮質醇讓皮膚細胞

churn out oily lipids from special glands called sebaceous glands.

從稱為皮脂腺的地方分泌油脂。

But when there's too much of these oily lipids,

但是若是這些皮脂累積太多，

called sebum, they can plug up the swollen, inflamed pores

就會堵在分泌口造成腫脹發炎

and trap the pesky, acne-causing bacteria inside,

並將討厭的、會造成粉刺的細菌 包在裡面，

where they set up house and thrive.

細菌就會在此繁衍。

Add a dash of inflammatory neuropeptides released by the nervous system when you're --

再加上你緊張時， 神經系統釋放和發炎相關的

well, nervous -- and angry zits follow.

神經胜肽， 就會造成青春痘。

To make matters worse, Justin is a boy, meaning he's got more testosterone than girls.

雪上加霜的是身為男性， 賈斯丁的睪固酮比女生多。

Testosterone is another hormone that increases oil production in the skin.

睪固酮是另一種 促進皮膚油脂分泌的賀爾蒙。

So, his already oily skin, together with a boost in oil and inflammation from stress,

所以他的皮膚本來就很油， 再加上壓力促進發炎反應和出油，

is the perfect environment for bacteria

就成了細菌的溫床，

to swell, swell, swell up into a major zit.

並腫脹成一顆大痘痘。

So what could've Justin done to avoid the big pimple?

賈斯丁該如何避免長青春痘呢？

Stressful situations are unavoidable.

壓力環境無可避免。

But we can try to change our responses so that we're not so stressed in the end.

但是我們可以改變心境， 讓自己減少感受到的壓力。

And had he been confident in approaching her,

而若他是自信地走向她，

she might not have noticed the pimple, or he might not have had one.

她可能就不會注意到她臉上的痘痘， 或者臉上根本不會有痘子。