健康择药:百忧解带来的未解之忧_BEC初级作文

健康择药:百忧解带来的未解之忧

Pharmacological merits aside, the green-and-cream pill was also a marvel of commercial branding, down to its market-tested name. Its chemical name is fluoxetine hydrochloride, not the most felicitous of terms. A company called Interbrand went to work for Eli Lilly and came up with Prozac. "Pro" sounds positive. Professional, too. "Ac"? That could signify action. As for the Z, it suggests a certain strength, perhaps with a faint high-techy quality.

除去其药理学价值，这种半截绿色半截奶油色的胶囊丸也堪称商业品牌推广中的奇迹，而这尤其要感谢它经过市场考验的商品名。它的化学名称为盐酸氟西汀，这显然不够朗朗上口。一家名为Interbrand的公司为礼来出谋划策，想出了Prozac这个名字。"Pro"听起来就给人胸有成竹、十分专业(professional)的感觉。"Ac"呢，可以认为它表示“行动”(action)。至于Z，这个字母代表了某种力量，可能还有一点点高科技的感觉。

(X is a pharmacological cousin to Z. Both letters are somewhat unusual, worth many points in Scrabble. It is surely not a coincidence that a striking number of modern medications contain either Z or X, or both, in their names, like Luvox, Paxil, Celexa, Effexor, Zantac, Xanax, Zoloft, Lexapro and Zocor, to name but a few. Not surprisingly, confusion can set in. Zantac or Xanax — remind me which one is for heartburn and which for panic disorder?)

（在制药领域，X与Z的地位近似。这两个字母在取名这种拼字游戏中享有异乎寻常的地位和价值。绝大多数现代药物的商品名都包含Z或X，或两者兼而有之。随便举几个例子，Luvox[兰释，亦称无郁宁]、Paxil[百可舒]、Celexa[喜普妙]、Effexor[郁复伸]、Zantac[善胃得]、Xanax[赞安诺]、Zoloft[左洛复]、Lexapro[来士普]和Zocor[舒降之]等等。这肯定不是用巧合可以解释的。由此产生困扰也就不足为奇了。Zantac和Xanax，哪个能治胃灼热，哪个又是用以治疗惊恐障碍的？看名字可真分不清。）