HEALTH REPORT - Study: Sunshine and Vitamin D May Improve Lu

HEALTH REPORT - Study: Sunshine and Vitamin D May Improve Lung Cancer Survival¹
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, May 18, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.

 
Sunlight helps the body create vitamin D.
Too much sun can cause skin cancer. Too much vitamin D can also make you sick. Yet a study suggests that sunlight and vitamin D may help some people with lung cancer live longer.

Vitamin D helps build strong teeth and bones. Foods such as oily fish and egg yolks are high in vitamin D. But not many foods naturally are. So extra vitamin D is often added to milk products. Some people get more with vitamin products.

Another way is with the sun. Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine vitamin." The body produces it through the skin from the ultraviolet² radiation of the sun.

Researchers from Harvard University led a study of four hundred fifty-six people. These men and women had been treated for lung cancer in Boston, Massachusetts. The cancers had been found early. Doctors operated to remove them. The average age of the patients was sixty-nine. Forty percent were smokers³.

Researchers asked the people what they ate, what vitamins they took and what time of year their operations had taken place.

Some had high levels of vitamin D intake⁴ and had their operations during summertime, when there is lots of sun. Others had low levels, and were operated on in winter.

The researchers found that thirty percent of the people in this second group were alive five years after their operation. Forty-six percent were disease-free.

But patients with the highest vitamin D intake and summer operations had higher survival rates. Seventy-two percent were still alive after five years. And eighty-three percent were disease-free.

The findings⁵ were presented at a meeting of the American Association⁶ for Cancer Research. Other studies are needed to confirm them.

Harvard researcher Wei Zhou says studies on animals have shown that vitamin D may be able to act against some cancers. He says the new study does not suggest that people should try to time their cancer surgery⁷ for a particular season. But he says increasing the use of vitamin D before such treatment could help.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer around the world, with more than one million new cases each year. And it kills more people than any other cancer. About sixty percent of those who get lung cancer die within a year. The major preventable cause is the use of tobacco.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk.  I'm Gwen Outen.

1 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

2 ultraviolet   

adj.紫外线的；n.紫外线

参考例句：

• It's called ultraviolet rays.它被叫做紫外线。
• The sun's ultraviolet rays are responsible for both tanning and burning.阳光中的紫外线是皮肤晒黑和灼伤的根源。

3 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

4 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

5 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

6 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

7 surgery   

n.外科，外科手术；手术室

参考例句：

• What time does surgery finish?门诊什么时间结束？
• Your condition is serious and requires surgery.你的情况很严重，需要动外科手术。