It's one of the most painful aspects of starvation to witness: the stomachs of children who are dying appear ridiculously swollen.

饿死看起来最痛苦的一点是：即将死去的孩子的胃竟然是肿的。

It's as if the body plays an unbelievably cruel joke on itself, causing the starved to resemble people whose bellies are large from over-eating.

就好像是身体在和自己开了一个难以置信的又残酷的玩笑，将那些饥饿的人与暴饮暴食将肚皮撑大的人作类比。

Is there a connection? In fact the two instances -- starvation and overeating -- only resemble each other in a superficial way.

这有联系吗？事实上，这两个实例——饥饿和暴饮暴食——表面上看起来是平等的。

The belly of an over-eater looks the way it does due to a build-up of fat cells, also present on other areas of the body.

一个暴饮暴食者的肚皮看起来就像是由脂肪细胞撑起来的，而且也会显现在身体的其他部位。

The starvation belly stands out in painful relief against emaciated arms, legs, and face, and will appear more taut and inflexible.

而饥饿者则表现出痛苦的体态特征，瘦弱的胳膊，腿和脸，而且会显得紧绷又呆板。

That's because the belly on a starving person has nothing to do with fat. Rather, it is often the result of Protein Calorie Malnutrition, or PCM.

那是因为饥饿者的胃与脂肪无关，相反，那通常是热能营养不良所导致的，或者说叫PCM。

PCM means a healthy number of calories are being eaten -- say in the form of rice -- but with a severe deficiency in protein.

PCM意味着被吸入的有益于身体健康的卡路里含量——只以大米为食——但严重缺乏蛋白质。

This is often the case in third-world countries where meat and fish are rare or too expensive for many.

在第三世界经常会出现这种情况，在那里肉和鱼是很少见的或者说对很多人来说都是负担不起的。

Even in a healthy state, the blood vessels and organs leak fluids a little.

甚至在身体健康的时候，血管和器官也是会泄露一点点液体的。

This is generally no problem, as the lymphatic system removes the excess, and a little fluid cushioning the organs is a good thing.

这通常是没有问题的。因为淋巴系统会将剩余部分移除，而且器官中含有一点缓冲液是有好处的。

In PCM, however, the lymphatic system can't keep up with the leakage, and the stomach area begins to bloat with its own waste fluids.

热能营养不良的时候，通常是淋巴系统的补救速度赶不上排泄速度，从而胃里会残留废弃液体并开始肿胀。

Add to this the likelihood of a swollen liver, which is another result of PCM, and you wind up with the terrible irony of a person on the verge of starvation looking weirdly similar to an overeater.

再加上肝脏肿大的可能性，那是导致热能营养不良的另一个因素，而你最终会感觉那是一个处饥饿边缘的可怕的具有讽刺性的一个人，而他看起来又像是一个暴饮暴食者。