VOA常速英语2008年-Allergies, Asthma on the Rise in Asia

By Steve Herman
New Delhi
24 April 2008

Adopting modern lifestyles, urbanization and even climate change are among some of the factors being blamed for an alarming rise in asthma¹ in Asia. From New Delhi, VOA Correspondent Steve Herman has a preview of an upcoming first-of-its-kind medical report that details the seriousness of the problem.

The prevalence of allergic² diseases in Asia is nothing to sneeze at. The World Allergy³ Organization is preparing to release its first ever global study, the "State of the World Allergy Report."

Doctors say this first worldwide study highlights the especially troubling rates in Asia, where allergies⁴ and asthma have doubled in many countries, compared to just a few decades back.

In rural Bangladesh, the prevalence of asthma in children has hit 16 percent, compared to just one percent in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

 

Mortality is also high in Asia, compared to the rest of the world. For example, for Chinese asthma patients aged⁵ five to 34, the death rate exceeds 10 percent.

One of the authors of the global report is the treasurer⁶ of the World Allergy Organization, Dr. Ruby⁷ Pawankar of the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo. She says the actual overall death rate in Asia may be higher because victims are not recognized as suffering from asthma.

"They land up in the hospital and they are just recorded as a cardio-respiratory arrest," she said.

Asthma is the world's top respiratory killer⁸.

Researchers say the rise in Asia and the developing world is being caused by a variety of factors -- exposure to tobacco smoke and other pollutants⁹, increased pollen¹⁰ resulting from climate change, wall-to-wall carpeting, rising consumption of fast foods and other elements of adopting a Westernized lifestyle.

There is also what allergists call the "hygiene¹¹ hypothesis," where improved sanitary¹² conditions in the developing world have led to a reduction in infectious diseases but a rise in allergies.

Speaking to VOA News in New Delhi, Dr. Pawankar says, even among physicians in Asia, the seriousness of allergies is not well recognized.

"Allergy is a major risk factor for asthma," she said. "And, the awareness¹³ of allergy in this part of the world has been pretty low. So, the understanding that this is the triggering factor has always taken a back seat, as compared to the Western world."

Dr. Pawankar says, when the disease is properly diagnosed, patients frequently are not getting needed treatments.

"Fifty percent of the people with these allergies and asthma live in developing countries," she said. "They do not have access to drugs."

Such patients are unlikely to have adequate funds or insurance to pay for the drugs.

In the Asia-Pacific region, researchers have found that 40 percent of recognized asthma sufferers need emergency medical treatment at least once a year.

The full extent of asthma and allergies globally and recommendations on addressing the issue from medical, social and economic perspectives will be detailed¹⁴ in the World Allergy Organization's unprecedented¹⁵ report, expected to be published in several months.

1 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

2 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

3 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

4 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

5 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

6 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

7 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

8 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

9 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

11 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

12 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

13 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

14 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

15 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。