An ingredient in chocolate could be used to stop persistent coughs and lead to more effective medicines, researchers say. The study found that theobromine, found in cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping persistent coughs than codeine, currently considered the best cough medicine

    ingredient n.成分　theobromine n.可可堿　cocoa n.可可粉　codeine n.可待因

    The researchers, from Imperial College London (ICL), said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatments. Ten healthy volunteers were either given theobromine, codeine or a dummy pill during the trial, which also involved Royal Brompton Hospital and St Bartholomew's Hospital.

    treatment n. 治療　volunteer n. 志愿者

    The researchers, writing in the online FASEB Journal, said that theobromine worked by suppressing vagus nerve activity, which is responsible for causing coughing. They also found that unlike standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no adverse effects on the cardiovascular or central nervous systems, such as drowsiness.

    vagus nerve 迷走神經　adverse effect 反作用、副作用　

    cardiovascular adj. 心臟血管的　drowsiness n. 睡意

    輔助閱讀：

    倫敦帝國學院的科學家發現，巧克力中含有的可可堿成分的止咳效果優于常用止咳藥可待因30%以上。從事該研究的彼得·巴內斯教授認為，此發現有望改進現在普遍采用的止咳方法。 

    科學家們讓10位志愿者分別服用了可可堿、可待因或者安慰劑。為了檢驗上述三種物質的作用，研究人員讓志愿者吸入了可以誘發咳嗽的辣椒素。通過對辣椒素水平進行分析，研究人員發現，服用可可堿的志愿者與服用安慰劑的志愿者相比，前者要吸入濃度高三分之一的辣椒素才能引發咳嗽；服用可待因的志愿者與服用安慰劑的志愿者相比，前者需要吸入的辣椒素濃度要稍高于后者即可引發咳嗽。研究者還表示，與通常的止咳方法不同，可可堿對心血管和中樞神經系統不會產生任何副作用。