Actos prevents diabetes in high-risk people

    BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study has found that Actos, a medicine treats onset¹ diabetes², could also reduce the diabetes(糖尿病) risk in people with prediabetes.
    The study, which was published Wednesday in New England Journal of Medicine, followed 602 prediabetics whose obesity³, ethnicity, family history and other factors put them at high risk of developing diabetes.
    The research findings showed that Actos, generically（一般地） known as pioglitazone, reduced the odds⁴ of developing Type 2 diabetes by 72 percent in people with prediabetes.
    Only 2.1 percent of those who took Actos developed diabetes each year over the three years of the study, compared with 7.6 percent of those who took a placebo⁵.
    Lead author of the study Ralph DeFronzo said, "The 72 percent reduction is the largest decrease in the conversion⁶ rate of pre-diabetes to (Type 2) diabetes that has ever been demonstrated by any intervention⁷, be it diet, exercise or medication."However, Actos can have significant side effects, including water retention⁸, moderate weight gain, and increased risk of bone fractures.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

2 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

3 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• 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。

4 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

5 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• 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。

6 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

8 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。