Michael Jackson may have been more prince than king of pop, a French doctor says in a new book alleging his wide-ranging voice resulted from a childhood chemical castration to fight acne. ”When he died, I realized that he was an unusual phenomenon,” Alain Branchereau, an opera buff and professor of vascular surgery at Timone University Hospital in France’s Mediterranean port of Marseille, told AFP.
“I said, ‘That’s the voice of a castrato!’”
After discussing the voice with his colleagues, including endocrinologists, Branchereau ended up with the theory of chemical castration through the synthetic anti-male hormone drug Cyproterone.
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
“When he was 12, Michael Jackson had acne. We know this, he spoke about it himself as a tragedy. What I think could have happened is that his people suggested this miracle treatment,” the doctor said.
Cyproterone “blocks puberty, the voice can’t mature,” he said, adding that he had read around 20 books on the subject, studied photographs and spoken to specialists in dermatology, voice physiology, plastic surgery, urology as well as to a former singer with the Petits Chanteurs de Sainte-Croix boys choir.
The drug stops bodily hair and the larynx from growing and affects the bones, leaving the body with a slight frame but a large chest.
Photo: EPA 照片：歐新社
Once the treatment is finished, the patient “keeps a child’s larynx all his life in a man’s body,” said Branchereau.
The doctor also noted that a male voice breaks during adolescence, becoming difficult to control. “But Michael Jackson never stopped singing,” he said.
“An important part of my theory is this voice’s exceptional character, which covers three octaves. But I haven’t found any grown men’s voices that cover three octaves.”
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
Branchereau admitted that he had not contacted Jackson’s family or friends for his book, Michael Jackson, the secret of a voice, due out tomorrow.
“We will never have proof,” the doctor said. “Unless his entourage says something.”
(AFP)
一位法國醫師在他的新書指稱，流行天王麥可‧傑克森的寬廣音域，乃是源自其幼年使用一種化學去勢療法診治青春痘。這位天王或許稱之為流行王子，更為貼切。
法國地中海港口馬賽的提蒙大學醫院血管外科手術教授阿藍‧布藍雪羅是一位歌劇愛好者，他表示，「（麥可‧傑克森）過世時，我才意識到他（的音域）是個異常現象。」
他說，「我說過，那就是去勢後的聲音。」
布藍雪羅與包含內分泌專科等各領域同事討論後，他歸納（傑克森）曾服用一種抑制雄性荷爾蒙的合成藥物「醋酸環丙孕酮」，達到化學去勢。
這位醫師說，「當麥可‧傑克森自述十二歲時曾長青春痘，我們都知道他認為那次經驗是個悲劇。我猜事發的緣由，可能是他身邊的人推薦他這項特效療法。」
他在讀過約二十本相關書籍、研究許多照片，並且與包含皮膚科、聲音生理學、整形外科、泌尿科等專家，還有與法國一個男孩合唱團Petits Chanteurs de Sainte-Croix的一位離職歌手討論後，他說，醋酸環丙孕酮會「阻斷青春期，抑制變聲。」
這種藥物不僅抑制體毛與喉結生長，還會影響骨骼，使身體骨架變得纖細，但有較大的胸膛。
布藍雪羅說，一旦療程結束，病患將「呈現男人的身體，但終身維持童音。」
這位醫師還指出，男生的聲音在青春期開始變得難以控制，「但麥可‧傑克森從小到大，歌唱事業未曾間斷。」
他說，「我的理論中很重要的一環是這種涵蓋三個八度的特殊聲音。不過，我至今尚未發現任何一位成年男子有涵蓋三個八度的音域。」
布藍雪羅坦承在他撰寫新書《麥可‧傑克森，聲音之秘辛》（暫譯）時，並未接觸過傑克森的家人或其朋友。這本書將於明天上市。
這位醫師說，「我們將無法得到證實。」他說，「除非他身旁的人透露些什麼。」
（法新社／翻譯：林亞蒂）
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been used in cooking for over a century to enhance flavor. It is often found in Chinese dishes and many other cuisines. Despite its common use, many people misunderstand the safety of MSG. The bad __1__ of MSG started in the late 1960s, when a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine described symptoms like a racing heart, weakness, and numbness after the writer ate Northern Chinese food. While no specific cause was __2__, a series of questionable studies in 1968 began to point the finger at MSG. In one such study, neurologist Herbert Schaumburg and
A: The World Expo 2025 is about to open in Osaka. Is Taiwan going to participate in the event too? B: Sure, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) will launch a Taiwan pavilion named “Tech World.” A: That sounds cool, and it can showcase our national strength in technology. B: The theme is “Connecting the world to create better future lives together.” The pavilion aims to attract over one million visitors. A: I hope humans can really create better future lives through this year’s fair. A: 2025年世博會即將開幕，這次台灣也會參加嗎？ B: 當然啦，外貿協會的台灣館將以「Tech World」名義參展！ A: 聽起來蠻酷的，應該是想強調台灣的科技實力。 B: 策展主題則是：「連結世界，共創未來美好生活」，希望能吸引到100萬人次參訪。 A: 希望藉由這次世博會，人類真的能共創美好生活。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
Even as he grows older, Microsoft founder Bill Gates still fondly remembers the catalytic computer code he wrote 50 years ago that opened up a new frontier in technology. Although the code that Gates printed out on a teletype machine may look crude compared to what’s powering today’s artificial intelligence platforms, it played a critical role in creating Microsoft in April 1975 — a golden anniversary that the Redmond, Washington, company celebrated on April 4. Gates, 69, set the stage for that jubilee with a blog post reminiscing on how he and his old high school friend — the late Paul Allen
The study had several issues. Small sample sizes made it hard to draw __7__ conclusions. Additionally, taking a __8__ like pure MSG on an empty stomach is likely to make a person ill in any case. Choosing individuals who already had a history of the symptoms could have created a bias because they were likely to __9__ the reactions again. When real scientific research on the effects of MSG was eventually done, many of the myths surrounding it were proven __10__. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other global organizations have found MSG safe to eat. Today, MSG
RSS