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VOA慢速英语2012 SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Pain Treatment Improved in Recent Years

时间:2012-08-27 03:39来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Pain Treatment Improved in Recent Years

BOB DOUGHTY1: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Bob Doughty.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. Today we tell about developments in pain control.

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY: As recently as the nineteen seventies, little research existed about a subject that interests most people at some time. The subject is pain. 

Over the years, however, medical studies have led to new hope for patients who are hurting. And, an international movement known as hospice has helped bring attention to difficult-to-treat pain for the dying. 

STEVE EMBER: Doctors speak of three kinds of pain: acute, chronic2 and breakthrough. Acute and chronic pain can be mild or severe. Acute pain happens fast and usually lasts a short time. It generally reacts to treatment.

But chronic pain can last a long time. Chronic pain may go away, but it often comes back. It can be hard to treat. 

Breakthrough pain is a pain that strikes suddenly. It may end just as suddenly. An activity can cause breakthrough pain. It also may happen as the effects of a person’s last medicine are ending.

BOB DOUGHTY: Many different diseases, conditions and injuries can cause chronic pain, from back problems to burns. Cancer is one of those causes, whether from the disease itself or from its treatment. 

The Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in New York City has been a leader in pain research and treatments linked to cancer. The center’s Doctor Kathleen Foley has been responsible for part of that gain. In the nineteen seventies, a supervisor3 asked her if she would like to do clinical research about pain. She was completing her medical education at the center at the time.

STEVE EMBER: Doctor Foley wanted to do the research. But she said she did not know anything about the subject. The head of the center’s office dealing4 with the nervous system said nobody else knew about it, either. 

As part of her duties, Kathleen Foley studied treatment of patients dying of cancer in the hospital. She found that the treatment was far from satisfactory. She said patients were often not given medicine to control pain until they were suffering badly. And, their pain could be eased only by injection.

Doctor Foley brought together experts in medicine, drug treatment and basic research to find better methods. A laboratory was created to study recently discovered opiate receptors in the brain.

BOB DOUGHTY: Research published mainly in nineteen seventy-three had found proteins on the surfaces of nerve cells in the brain. The findings made it possible to better study pain drugs and learn how they affect the body. 

Today many doctors order pain medicines for dying patients to be given before suffering takes hold. And more methods of administering the medicines are now available. One is a pump that lets patients give themselves pain medications as needed. They cannot harm themselves because the amount of painkiller5 in the pump is carefully measured and limited.

STEVE EMBER: Doctor Foley notes another development in pain care. It is the continual monitoring, or observation, of patients’ conditions. A continually monitored person is not left alone to suffer. 

Kathleen Foley was named to head Sloan Kettering’s new Pain Service within the Department of Neurology in nineteen eighty-one. It was America’s first such hospital medical service to identify itself this way. Today, the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center operates a pain and symptom-control service for all its cancer patients. 

(MUSIC) 

BOB DOUGHTY: An international movement called hospice also has greatly improved pain care for the dying. Hospice care helps people whose doctors confirm that they have only a limited time to live. These patients suffer from a number of sicknesses and conditions. 

Hospice care can be given in hospitals, centers for patients and older adults, and patients’ homes. Doctors, nurses, social workers and others work with patients and their families to raise the quality of a patient’s last days. These medical experts are trained in the safe administration of pain-killing drugs. Their use can prevent or greatly reduce suffering.

STEVE EMBER: Hospice care may have begun in Europe’s Middle Ages. In those days, religious workers cared for sick travelers at shelters near holy places. 

Centuries later, a British doctor became an activist6 for better care for the dying in the nineteen forties. With financial aid, Cicely Saunders established Saint Christopher’s Hospice in London. She studied pain management efforts in the United States, which she said were better than those of Britain. Her efforts met a longtime need. News of her work traveled.

BOB DOUGHTY: Another physician, Josefina B. Magno, helped the hospice movement grow in the United States. She was able to get the government and insurance companies to help patients with the cost of their care. Doctor Magno established the Hospice of Northern Virginia with friends in nineteen seventy-seven. She later led the National Hospice Organization. 

Hospice care is not limited to the dying. Patients still receiving active treatment for diseases like cancer and AIDS can also get hospice help. They can receive palliative care to ease the signs of their sickness. The need is clear in many areas.

STEVE EMBER: An organization called the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa operates from the city of Alexandria, Virginia. The Foundation says seven thousand people die in parts of Africa every day from conditions resulting from AIDS.

Some hospice centers in the United States and Africa have cooperation agreements. For example, Continuum Hospice Care in New York City has such an agreement with Swaziland Hospice at Home in Matsapha. The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care in South Bend, Indiana has ties to the Palliative Care Association of Uganda in Kampala. These partnerships7 are among many active relationships between American hospices and African countries. 

BOB DOUGHTY: An organization exists to support and increase palliative care across Africa. The African Palliative Care Association was established in the Tanzanian city of Arusha in June, two thousand four. 

The Association says one of its goals is to provide palliative care to both adults and children. This includes children whose parents have died. Another goal is to get palliative care added to the national health plans of African governments. Still another is to urge that everyone studying health care and medicine learn palliative care methods.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: Sales of some kinds of pain medicine are restricted in the United States. Doctors must first contact a drugstore to order the medicine for their patients. The order is called a prescription8.

Doctors usually prescribe opiate drugs only for patients with severe pain. Opiates include codeine, methadone and morphine. Most of these narcotic9 drugs come from the poppy flower. People have used one opiate, opium10, for pain for more than two thousand years. A newer drug, oxycodone, is called an opioid. An opioid is similar to an opiate. Doctors use it to control moderate to severe pain over a long period.

BOB DOUGHTY: Many doctors prescribe narcotic drugs for patients with lasting11, severe pain. Such drugs may ease suffering. But they can also be addictive12. The user may need increasing amounts to get the same effect.

Strong drugs must be taken carefully. People can accidentally kill themselves by taking too many pills or mixing medicines. Sometimes this happens when a person takes drugs and also drinks too much alcohol.

STEVE EMBER: In two thousand eight, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study of unplanned deaths from prescription drugs. The study reported about deaths in the American state of West Virginia. The report said about sixty-six percent of those who died there from prescription drugs apparently13 had no prescription. 

Most of the drugs were painkillers14. The report said methadone was involved in forty percent of the deaths. The drug has been used for many years to treat addiction15. It is often given to addicts16 to reduce symptoms of withdrawal17 from opioids like heroin18

Strong painkillers, then, can do great good. They ease suffering for millions of patients every year. But some people abuse them, and abusing painkillers can be like riding a wild animal. 

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I’m Bob Doughty.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m STEVE EMBER. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 chronic BO9zl     
adj.(疾病)长期未愈的,慢性的;极坏的
参考例句:
  • Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
  • Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。
3 supervisor RrZwv     
n.监督人,管理人,检查员,督学,主管,导师
参考例句:
  • Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说,我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
  • He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。
4 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
5 painkiller eKMx4     
n.止痛药
参考例句:
  • I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
  • The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。
6 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
7 partnerships ce2e6aff420d72bbf56e8077be344bc9     
n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 );合伙人身份;合作关系
参考例句:
  • Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句
8 prescription u1vzA     
n.处方,开药;指示,规定
参考例句:
  • The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
  • The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。
9 narcotic u6jzY     
n.麻醉药,镇静剂;adj.麻醉的,催眠的
参考例句:
  • Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
  • No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。
10 opium c40zw     
n.鸦片;adj.鸦片的
参考例句:
  • That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
  • Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
11 lasting IpCz02     
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持
参考例句:
  • The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
  • We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。
12 addictive hJbyL     
adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的,成为习惯的
参考例句:
  • The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
  • Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。
13 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
14 painkillers 1a67b54ddb73ea8c08a4e55aa1847a55     
n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
  • The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解,因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分
15 addiction JyEzS     
n.上瘾入迷,嗜好
参考例句:
  • He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
  • Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。
16 addicts abaa34ffd5d9e0d57b7acefcb3539d0c     
有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 ); 入迷的人
参考例句:
  • a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
  • There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
17 withdrawal Cfhwq     
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销
参考例句:
  • The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
  • They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。
18 heroin IrSzHX     
n.海洛因
参考例句:
  • Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
  • Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。
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TAG标签:   VOA慢速英语  Improve  Year
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