2007年VOA标准英语-Folic Acid Linked to Colon Polyps
时间：2019-01-16 作者：英语课 分类：2007年VOA标准英语（六月）
Washington, D.C.
07 June 2007
For years, doctors urged women to take folic acid if they planned to get pregnant. Then researchers discovered the nutrient 1 helped reduce the risk of a heart attack. But now a new study shows folic acid may stimulate 2 the growth of polyps in the colon 3. And as VOA reports, polyps can lead to colon cancer.
Many companies produce folic acid supplements
Women often take folic acid to prevent birth defects. Other women, and men, take it to help reduce the level of homocysteine in the blood. Too much homocysteine can possibly lead to heart attacks.
Gastroenterologists check a patient's colon during a procedure known as a colonoscopy. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that taking too much folic acid can cause polyps in the colon.
Doctor John Baron 4 of Dartmouth University School of Medicine in the United States says the presence of polyps raises the risk of cancer. "Most colon polyps are benign 5 and the reason to worry about them is simply that if you can remove them, you can prevent their developing into cancer," he says.
The American study of 1,000 people was equally divided between those who took one milligram of folic acid and those who took a placebo 6 -- a 'sugar' pill or a pill with no medicine ingredient.
Researchers were trying to determine if folic acid prevented polyps. Dr. Baron says what researchers found surprised them. "We found that folic acid did not decrease the risk of colon polyps. In fact, in some analysis we saw suggestions that folic acid might increase risk of those polyps."
Not only did the vitamin stimulate their growth, they also increased the risk of something else affecting men in the group. "We also saw an increase in the risk of prostate cancer in the folate group,” Dr. Baron adds. “This is a surprising finding. It's far from definitive 7, but it's something that should be looked into in the future."
Folic acid is a type of B vitamin. Combined with vitamins B-12 and C, it helps the body create and use protein. It also forms red blood cells and produces the genetic 8 makeup 9, called DNA 10.
Folic acid is found in many of the foods we eat: for example, dark green leafy vegetables, wheat grains, beans and other legumes.
So with the exception of women who want to deliver a healthy baby, an extra supplement of folic acid may not be a good thing. At least until another study comes out.
- Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
- The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。
- Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
- Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。
- Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
- The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。
- Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
- The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。
- The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
- Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。
- The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
- The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。
- This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
- No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。
- It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
- Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
- Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
- Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？