VOA标准英语2014--低成本治疗可预防新生儿死亡或残疾

 

Saving Premies from Death or Disability 低成本治疗可预防新生儿死亡或残疾

It’s estimated about 15-million babies are born prematurely² each year. About one million of them die, while many others suffer life-long disabilities.  A major study says half the women at risk of pre-term deliveries are not receiving simple, low cost treatments that could help prevent death or disabilities in newborns.

The study of more than 300,000 births in 29 low and middle income countries appears in The Lancet.

The World Health Organization’s Dr. Joshua Vogel, who led the research, said, “It’s a very big problem and a global one. Our best estimates are that over one in ten births worldwide actually occur before 37-weeks. So occur pre-term before the baby is fully³ grown and that’s in the region of about 15-million births annually⁴.”

Most of the pre-term births occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Why pre-term births occur, he said, is a complex question.

“Many conditions can actually cause it, for example, infections. But often we don’t know the reason. They just occur and we need to do the best we can to manage them.”

Besides the nearly one million deaths each year among pre-term babies, many of those who survive have serious health issues. These include cardiovascular problems, visual and hearing difficulties and learning disabilities.

“And of course we need to consider how this can have an impact on the family, not just the individual baby or child, but also the economic consequences as well,” he said.

Vogel -- who‘s with the WHO’s Reproductive Health and Research Department – said there are simple, effective and inexpensive treatments that can prevent many of these problems.

“We have the antenatal corticosteroids that can help develop the lungs a bit quicker. And we also have another group of medications called tocolytics. And tocolytics can actually slow down or even in some cases temporarily stop a woman’s contractions⁵. And this can buy us a little bit of time, not just in terms of helping⁶ to deliver, but more to give time for us to administer antenatal corticosteroids – for those drugs to work – or indeed to transfer the woman to a facility where she can get access to the best newborn care for the premature¹ newborn when it is born,” he said.

But many women simply are not receiving these treatments.

Vogel said, “Of the women that are eligible⁷ for those drugs only just over half of them are actually receiving it. And in the case of the tocolytics medications, we found most women who are eligible were not receiving tocolytics medication or an antenatal corticosteroid. We also found that instead of tocolytics drugs women were often being treated with regimens that we know don’t really make much of a difference in this particular clinical situation.”

About a third of the women studied received ineffective treatments for pre-term risk, such as bed rest, hydration and magnesium⁸ sulfate. And many who did receive the tocolytics were not getting the best form known as calcium⁹ channel blockers. Instead, they were given the more risky¹⁰ beta-agonists, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular problems, nausea¹¹ and vomiting¹².

Vogel said the precise reasons why women are not getting proper treatments are unclear. Further study is needed on that. But he gives a few possibilities.

“It can be misunderstanding on the behalf of health staff or a lack of information. It can be a fear amongst women or the doctors or health care providers themselves. And of course it can be a lot of economic and financial barriers -- not just for hospitals and getting access to the drugs, but in the case of women and their families being able to afford it,” he said.

Vogel said to reduce the risk of pre-term births the medications should be given to eligible women between 26 and 34 weeks into pregnancy¹³.  The WHO official agreed with those who say the drugs are not a panacea¹⁴ and that a comprehensive approach is needed to reduce deaths and disabilities associated with pre-term births.

1 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

2 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

5 contractions   

n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩

参考例句：

• Contractions are much more common in speech than in writing. 缩略词在口语里比在书写中常见得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Muscle contractions are powered by the chemical adenosine triphosphate(ATP ). 肌肉收缩是由化学物质三磷酸腺苷(ATP)提供动力的。 来自辞典例句

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

8 magnesium   

n.镁

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The water contains high amounts of magnesium.这水含有大量的镁。

9 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

10 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

11 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

12 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

13 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

14 panacea   

n.万灵药；治百病的灵药

参考例句：

• Western aid may help but will not be a panacea. 西方援助可能会有所帮助，但并非灵丹妙药。
• There's no single panacea for the country's economic ills. 国家经济弊病百出,并无万灵药可以医治。