时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA2004(下)--健康科技


英语课


 


By David McAlary
 
A new U.S. study highlights more negative health effects women might suffer if they take hormone 1 supplements to combat the symptoms of aging. We know that taking the female hormones 2 estrogen and progestin can lead to increased risk of breast cancer and stroke. Now we learn that hormone replacement 3 therapy can lead to potentially fatal blood clots 5 too.
Two years ago, Gail Berry was sitting at her desk when her leg swelled 6 and ached badly. Doctors found that she had a blood clot 4.
"The ultrasound showed it was in the back of my right leg and I was admitted to the hospital for treatment," she said.
Ms. Berry also had a pulmonary embolus, which occurs when part of the blood clot breaks off and travels to the lung. That can be fatal. She had been taking estrogen with progestin to replace the lower natural levels of the hormones that occur during menopause. A new study of 16,000 women shows that the therapy significantly boosts the risk for a clot.
"The main finding of the study was that women who were assigned to take the hormone replacement therapy had about a doubling of the risk of blood clots, compared to women assigned to take placebo," said Mary Cushman. University of Vermont physician Mary Cushman led the study which appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association. She says it confirms what she sees among her private patients.
"In my practice I very commonly will see middle-aged 7 women who are struggling with menopausal symptoms and have been prescribed hormone replacement therapy and subsequently experience a blood clot," she said.
Previous studies had suggested a higher chance for blood clots among hormone takers, but what researchers did not know until now was that certain groups of women are most susceptible 8. For example, the risk increases with age. Women over age 70 are at more than seven times the risk. Dr. Cushman says being overweight also raises the danger of a clot, known medically as thrombosis.
"The women who had both obesity 9 and hormone replacement were almost seven times more likely to develop thrombosis, compared to thinner women," she said.
In addition, the study found that the group of women with a genetic 10 trait called Factor-Five Leiden were also more susceptible to blood clots.
Normally, aspirin 11 reduces the risk by thinning the blood, but the researchers found it did not help the women on hormones who took it.
But there are proven benefits for combined estrogen and progestin therapy. For one, it reduces the risk of the brittle 12 bone disease osteoporosis. For another, it has been shown to lower the risk for colon 13 cancer.
Because of these reasons, U.S. government health officials are not recommending a ban on hormone treatments for women, but they are urging caution.
"They should be used at the lowest does for the shortest possible time," said Dr. Barbara Alving, this is Dr. Barbara Alving acting 14 director of the U.S. government's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. "If you have been on hormones for years and years and years because you just felt good and did not bother to go off them, you really need to think about [whether it is] time to go off the hormones, and discuss this with your physician and gradually taper 15 off."
This is what Gail Berry has done.
"I have not gone back on the hormones," she said. "I have lost about 30 pounds, and I feel much better."
Dr. Mary Cushman of the University of Vermont says that if women are considering beginning hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms, but have a family history of blood clots, they should undergo testing to determine whether they have the same genetic predisposition.
David McAlary, VOA News, Washington


注释:
supplement 补充
combat 抗击
symptom 症状
estrogen 雌激素
progestin 黄体酮
ultrasound  超声波
placebo 安慰剂
University of Vermont 佛蒙特大学
menopausal 更年期的
thrombosis 血栓症
osteoporosis 骨质疏松症
predisposition 倾向



1 hormone
n.荷尔蒙,激素,内分泌
  • Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
  • This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
2 hormones
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品
  • We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
  • They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。
3 clot
n.凝块;v.使凝成块
  • Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
  • The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。
4 clots
n.凝块( clot的名词复数 );血块;蠢人;傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )
  • When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了,血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
5 swelled
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情)
  • The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染,他的手肿了起来。
  • After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后,河水猛涨。
6 middle-aged
adj.中年的
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
7 susceptible
adj.过敏的,敏感的;易动感情的,易受感动的
  • Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
  • We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。
8 obesity
n.肥胖,肥大
  • One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
  • Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。
9 genetic
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
  • 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。
10 aspirin
n.阿司匹林
  • The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
  • She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店,买了些阿司匹林。
11 brittle
adj.易碎的;脆弱的;冷淡的;(声音)尖利的
  • The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
  • She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。
12 colon
n.冒号,结肠,直肠
  • 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。
13 acting
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
14 taper
n.小蜡烛,尖细,渐弱;adj.尖细的;v.逐渐变小
  • You'd better taper off the amount of time given to rest.你最好逐渐地减少休息时间。
  • Pulmonary arteries taper towards periphery.肺动脉向周围逐渐变细。
学英语单词
Abdel
acceleration of ripening
additional advance
anecdotically
antiriot ammunition
apical bud
arecaceaes
augelli
average repair
Bankia spengler
bankruptcy administrator
basic lead sulphate
bilge logs
booster inoculation
bored shitless
boringly
chain and sprocket drive
Chalkedon
checking off symbol
CLMW
course-stability
cross rod
Curley
damper segment
declaratory judgments
deflection calculation
delivered free to destination
dietary-supplement
dress in
dust crops with an insecticide
emince
enterouterine anus
equitangential
faralatrioside
farbs
finely divided scale
folia vermis
heavy work
helius (helius) minusculus
Hose Connectors
hyperhomocysteinemic
intermolecular respiration
lava column
lead number
lends out
lenticel(le)
lywallzyme
macnee
magnitude spectrum
master screw
max sth out
mellower
memory error report analysis
movable appendage
naked-flame mine
nickel-vanadium steel
nominal ocular hazard area
oculometry
one pack
ordinary wheel
organizational climate index
over-grateful
over-indulged
overtowered
pattern representation
phenoxathin
phenylphosphine
pick-up attachment
pilot flame burner
pipeline stopcock
plash
pot-holder
preservative substance
pressure admission chamber
pressure of blast
Prohepes
pseudodiploidy
r.d
ramming up
rankine thermometric scale
riborg
righi-leduc effect
roricon
sclenchyma
self-illuminating sight
selfcontradictory
sniper
sousant
Subhanallah
sukhooei
Swap Curve
tahsildars
thermo anelasticity
three stages fluidized-bed dryer
toner concentration
unkissing
unvote
upright drill
visual agnosia
Wiener schnitzel
with a swing in it
worldless