Time to go the A Moment of Science mailbag. A listener writes:

Dear A Moment of Science,

I’ve heard that pork can be used to stop a nosebleed. Is this true, or just a myth?

Well, there are lots of anecdotal stories about doctors in the 17- and 1800s stuffing patients’ noses with salt pork to stop nosebleeds. But the practice fell out of favor at some point because the meat wasn’t always the freshest, and often swarmed with bacteria and other dangerous parasites.

But recently, doctors at the Detroit Medical Center used this old folk method to treat a young child who suffered from frequent and prolonged bloody noses. Using so called “nasal tampons” made of raw, salt pork, which they packed into her nose, the docs were able to stop the bleeding within twenty-four hours.

Now, to be sure, trying this admittedly weird sounding method on a single patient hardly constitutes an in depth study. But the pork treatment seems to have worked in this case.

Why?

It could be that raw salt pork has certain qualities that help stop the bleeding. Or maybe the combination of cold and salt narrow the blood vessels while the fat kick-starts clotting.

In any case, it’s an interesting example of how some old folk cures might have some basis in science.

　　熏肉能治流鼻血吗?

　　接下来是《科学一刻》听众来信时间。一位听众给我们写信说：

　　亲爱的《科学一刻》栏目，我听说猪肉能被用来治流鼻血。这是真的吗，还是虚构的?

　　呃，现在流传着许多这样的奇闻趣事，说的是18-19世纪的医生将腌猪肉塞进病人的鼻子里治疗流鼻血。但是在某些时候，这一疗法不受欢迎。因为猪肉并不总是最新鲜的，经常长满了细菌以及其他有害的寄生虫。

　　但是在近期，底特律医疗中心的医生们就用这个老偏方来治疗一名小孩子。这个孩子频繁地流鼻血且持续时间很长，她深受其苦。医生将由生的腌猪肉做成的，所谓的“鼻子止血棉”，塞进她的鼻子。在24小时之内，医生们成功的止住了这个孩子的鼻血。

　　说老实话，只在一名病人身上尝试这个听起来确实古怪的老偏方，几乎难以构成一项有深度的医学研究。但是在这个案例中，“猪肉疗法”看起来起作用了。

　　这是为什么呢?

　　可能的原因是，生的腌猪肉具有某种特性，有助于止血。或者可能是，在脂肪快速凝固的同时，低温和盐的共同作用使血管收缩。

　　不管怎样，这都是一个有趣的例子，关于一些老偏方如何具有科学依据。