【挑战TIME】第三期

　　【Introduction】

　　输送血液可以称为生命的礼物。然而，从每年5百万输血病人的大部分情况来看，实际上，输血弊大于利。

　　【Section One】Article

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　　Why Banked Blood Goes Bad

　　It‘s a problem that doctors have been wrestling with for several years, as study after study shows a disturbing spike in heart disease and death in patients receiving transfusions. The trend affects almost every group of critically ill patients — from trauma sufferers in the ER to heart attack victims, patients with anemia and those undergoing chemotherapy. This increase in death and heart disease, doctors say, is unrelated to infectious blood-borne diseases or allergic reactions that often follow transfusions. "After you control for sickness and all sorts of things, patients who receive transfusions still have more heart attacks. It makes no sense," says Dr. Jonathan Stamler, a professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center.

　　Logically, and medically, patients who need transfusions — those with low blood counts — should benefit immediately from a transfusion of new oxygen-laden red blood cells. Yet many get sicker. Puzzled by the paradox, Stamler and his colleagues decided to look more closely at banked blood — to figure out whether it underwent certain changes that turned it from life-saving in the donor to potentially deadly in the bag.

　　Their finding, reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: nitric oxide (NO). A workhorse of the blood, the gas helps red blood cells ferry oxygen to tissues and props open tiny vessels to allow freer blood flow. It turns out that within hours of leaving the body, levels of nitric oxide in the blood begin to drop, until, by the time donated blood expires after 42 days, the gas is almost nonexistent. "The reality is that we are giving blood that cannot deliver oxygen properly," says Stamler, lead author of the study. "Many patients who are getting blood are being put at increased risk."

　　Previous trials have shown that heart disease patients, for example, who receive a blood transfusion to help restore oxygen to deprived tissues, have a 25% chance of having a heart attack and an 8% chance of dying within 30 days; similar patients who do not get transfused have an 8% chance of a cardiac event and a 3% chance of death. Stamler hypothesizes that without NO, red blood cells cannot drill their way into tiny blood vessels; rather, they pile up in narrow passageways, blocking blood flow instead of increasing it and hampering the heart.

　　Blood transfusions alone may not be directly responsible for these health hazards, but data from other recent studies have been enough to convince physicians to change their so-called transfusion trigger. Doctors have traditionally waited until the patient‘s hematocrit — the proportion of the blood made up of red blood cells — drops below the normal range of 45% to 55% before transfusing. Now, doctors prefer to wait longer, until it falls below 30%. "There is still a lot of controversy about the trigger," says Dr. Lynne Uhl, a transfusion specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, "but the growing data has reinforced the practice that it‘s okay to let the patient‘s hematocrit drop lower before transfusing."

　　Wouldn‘t it be more effective if banked blood could simply be improved? Stamler‘s study suggests it can: by replacing nitric oxide in stored blood, Stamler showed that the risk of heart attack and death from transfusion dropped dramatically, at least in mice. And there‘s reason to believe such replenishment could work in human patients as well; already, premature babies born with lung and respiratory problems are placed in NO-rich environments to ensure that their still developing tissues get the oxygen they need to grow properly. For now, the American Red Cross, which oversees 14 million units of banked blood, is waiting for additional study results before changing any of its processing and storage practices.

　　【Section Two】Vocabulary

　　1. transfusion

　　n. 注入, [医]输血, 输液

　　2. critically

　　adv. 批评地, 用钻研眼光地, 精密地, 危急地

　　3. infectious

　　adj. 有传染性的, 易传染的, 有感染力的

　　4. allergic

　　adj. [医]过敏的, 患过敏症的

　　5. paradox

　　n. 似非而是的论点, 自相矛盾的话

　　6. controversy

　　n. 论争, 辩论, 论战

　　【Section Three】Homework

　　1. Please translate the blue sentence into Chinese.

　　"Logically, and medically, patients who need transfusions — those with low blood counts — should benefit immediately from a transfusion of new oxygen-laden red blood cells. Yet many get sicker."

　　2. What is the main idear of this Article?

　　3. The article mentioned "The heart disease patients, who receive a blood transfusion to help restore oxygen to deprived tissues, have a 8% chance of having a heart attack and an 25% chance of dying within 30 days" Right? Why?

　　4. How to effectively improve the banked blood?

　　答案:

　　1. 按道理，从医学上来说，因血球少而需要输血的病人应该很快就从血里的携氧红血球获得益处。而实际上，很多病人病得更严重。

　　(翻译的不好,仅供参考)

　　2. No standard answer.

　　3. False. The correct answer: "Previous trials have shown that heart disease patients, for example, who receive a blood transfusion to help restore oxygen to deprived tissues, have a 25% chance of having a heart attack and an 8% chance of dying within 30 days".

4. By replacing nitric oxide in stored blood.

　　Steroids:NotJustforAthletes

　　【 Introduction 】

　　大多数人都认为经常使用激素的是分掉健壮的运动员。其实不然，许多普通老百姓也热衷于此。为什么会这样呢，也许这篇文章能给你一个满意的答案。

　　Steroids: Not Just for Athletes

　　Anyone who follows the news probably has a picture of the typical steroid user: an elite athlete — a home-run hitter, say — trying to get an edge on the competition, or a high-school or college kid who wants desperately to get into the pros.

　　But while those cases make headlines, the stereotype turns out to be largely off base, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. In a web-based survey of nearly 2,000 self-prescribed steroid users (the stuff has legitimate medical uses as well, such as correcting hormone imbalances), it turns out that the typical user isn‘t a competitive athlete at all. He (and it‘s pretty much always "he") is a highly educated professional, about 30 years old, who doesn‘t participate in organized sports at all — and never has. He uses steroids to build muscle, increase strength and look good. And he does it, not as an easy, stand-alone shortcut to body modification, but as a supplement to a carefully planned regimen of diet and exercise. In short, says one internist: "They‘re gym rats."

　　A majority of steroid users say they‘d be willing to consult with doctors about their steroid use — in principle. In practice most didn‘t actually reveal their habit to their physicians. The reason: they don‘t believe doctors know a lot about the drugs, and they suspect that physicians, like the general public, have an exaggerated idea about how dangerous steroids really are. The users themselves tend to be aware of side effects like liver damage, high blood pressure and behavioral changes. That‘s why most users inject the steroids instead of taking them by mouth, in order to better control blood levels and lessen the risk of liver toxicity. A majority of habitual users also get blood work at least once a year, probably to make sure the drugs aren‘t throwing hormone levels too far out of balance.

　　The authors make it clear that they don‘t approve of the non-medical use of steroids — but do believe that reducing the potential harm they can cause is never going to be possible if nobody understand who the users really are.

　　【Vocabulary】

　　1. elite：a group of people in a society, etc. who are powerful and have a lot of influence, because they are rich, intelligent

　　2. get an edge on：[俚]胜过某人

　　3. pro：A pro player is a professional sportsman or woman

　　4. stereotype：a fixed idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or thing, but which is often not true in reality

　　5. shortcut: 捷径

　　6. regimen (medical or formal) a set of rules about food and exercise or medical treatment that you follow in order to stay healthy or to improve your health

　　7. internist :(AmE) a doctor who is a specialist in the treatment of diseases of the organs inside the body and who does not usually do medical operations

　　【Homework】

　　1. Why the author says: (and it‘s pretty much always "he") in the sentence He (and it‘s pretty much always "he") is a highly educated professional, about 30 years old, who doesn‘t participate in organized sports at all — and never has.

　　2. Why most didn‘t actually reveal their habit to their physicians ?

　　3. How do the steroid users usually deal with(or reduce) the side effect of steroids.

　　4. Which statement is ture?

　　A. This article is based on the statistics of study “Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition” in which nearly 2,000 self-prescribed men were involved.

　　B. In order to better control blood levels and lessen the risk of liver toxicity, most users take them by mouth instead of injecting the steroids.

　　C. . According to the study, a highly educated professional uses steroids as a supplement to diet and exercise.

　　D. A majority of habitual users also get blood work at least twice a year, probably to make sure the drugs aren‘t throwing hormone levels too far out of balance.

　　参考答案及解析:

　　1.He equals to man, and man is supposed to be strong. As the highly educated professional uses steroids to build muscle, increase strength and look good, he looks strong. So the author says that it‘s pretty much always "he".

　　2.The reason: they don‘t believe doctors know a lot about the drugs, and they suspect that physicians, like the general public, have an exaggerated idea about how dangerous steroids really are.

　　3.A. inject the steroids instead of taking them by mouth, in order to better control blood levels and lessen the risk of liver toxicity.

　　(or/and)

　　B. A majority of habitual users also get blood work at least once a year, probably to make sure the drugs aren‘t throwing hormone levels too far out of balance.

　　4.C

　　(A.“2,000 self-prescribed men” is wrong)

　　(B.“take them by mouth instead of injecting the steroids” should be “inject the steroids instead of taking them by mouth”)

　　(D. twice a year- once a year)

　　India’sCall-CenterJobsGoBegging

　　【Introduction】

　　在印度前十年左右，呼叫中心的高薪吸引了全国成千上万的人来应聘。然而，随着印度的毕业生和年轻的打工一族不再为工作而操心，呼叫中心从此不景气了。