In Study, Aspirin Reduces Deaths From Some Cancers

VOA special english 原始地址：http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/New-Study-Suggests-that-Aspirin-Reduces-Death-Rates-from-Some-Cancers-111783009.html?commentSubmitted=y&field=But%20I%20still%20think%20eating%20medicine%20too%20much%20is%20not%20good%20to%20your%20own%20health.#comments

【*声明 本人四级水平 翻译是本人学习所用 建议大家各取所需 翻的不好 还望见谅 】

BOB DOUGHTY: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

【 小明： 这里是VOA慢速英语的科技新闻版块。我是小明。】

FAITH LAPIDUS: And I’m Faith Lapidus. This week, we will tell the story of aspirin.

【 小美：我是小美。这周，我们将要讲述阿司匹林的故事。 】

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BOB DOUGHTY:

People have known since ancient times that aspirin lessens pain and lowers high body temperature. But that is not all the drug can do. It has gained important new uses in recent years. Small amounts may help prevent a stroke or heart attack. Some researchers say aspirin may help patients with colon cancer live longer, or may even prevent some cancers.

【 从古代时起，人们就知道阿司匹林可以减轻人们的痛苦和降高烧。但是，并不是所有药物都可以做到。一些研究者说阿司匹林可以使结肠癌患者活的时间更长，并且可能甚至预防一些癌症。】

But doctors also warn that the acid in aspirin can cause problems like bleeding in the stomach and intestines.

【 但是医生们也警告说阿司匹林中的酸性物质也可能造成肠胃出血的问题。】

FAITH LAPIDUS:

So, how did aspirin become so important? The story begins with a willow tree. Two thousand years ago, the Greek doctor Hippocrates advised his patients to chew on the bark and leaves of the willow.

【 所以，为什么阿司匹林变得如此重要？故事从一颗柳树开始讲起。两千年前，希腊医生Hippocrates建议他的病人嚼柳树的树皮和树叶。】

The tree contains a chemical called salicin. In the eighteen hundreds, researchers discovered how to make salicylic acid from the chemical. In eighteen ninety-seven, a chemist named Felix Hoffmann at Friedrich Bayer and Company in Germany created acetyl salicylic acid.

【 柳树中包含一种化学物质叫做柳醇。在二十世纪，研究者发现如何从化学物质中制得水杨酸。在十九世纪的九十年代，一个叫做Felix Hoffmann化学家在德国夫里德里克的拜耳实验室中制得乙醯柳酸。】

Later, it became the active substance in a medicine that Bayer called aspirin. The "a" came from acetyl. The "spir" came from the spirea plant, which also produces salicin. And the "in"? That is a common way to end medicine names.

【 后来，在医学上这种活性物质被拜耳公司称作阿司匹林。阿司匹林（aspirin）名字中的’a’源自物质中的乙酰基，名字中的’spir’源自绣线菊类的植物，这种物质也产生柳醇。那’in’是出自哪里呢？这种以’in’命名结尾的方式在药物名中很常见。】

BOB DOUGHTY:

In nineteen eighty-two, a British scientist shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in part for discovering how aspirin works. Sir John Vane found that aspirin blocks the body from making natural substances called prostaglandins.

【在1982年，一个英国的科学家因为参与发现了阿司匹林的作用机理而获得了诺贝尔医学奖。Sir John Vane发现阿司匹林妨碍身体产生一种叫做前列腺素的自然物质。】

Prostaglandins have several effects on the body. Some cause pain and the expansion, or swelling, of damaged tissue. Others protect the lining of the stomach and small intestine.

【 前列腺素对身体有很多作用。其中一部分成分是产生疼痛和扩张，损坏组织。另一些成分是保护肠胃组织。】

Prostaglandins also make the heart, kidneys and blood vessels work well. But there is a problem. Aspirin works against all prostaglandins, good and bad.

【 前列腺素也可以造成心脏，肾和血液工作的更好。但是存在一个问题。阿司匹林会阻止所有前列腺素的运转，好的和坏的。】

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FAITH LAPIDUS:

Scientists have also learned how aspirin interferes with an enzyme. One form of this enzyme makes the prostaglandin that causes pain and swelling. Another form of the enzyme creates a protective effect. So aspirin can reduce pain and swelling in damaged tissues. But it can also harm the inside of the stomach and small intestine. And sometimes it can cause bleeding.

【 科学家们也知道了阿司匹林是如何干扰一种酶。这种酶的一种形式是制造那种可以造成疼痛和肿胀的的前列腺素，而另一种形式的酶可以起到好的作用。因此阿司匹林就可以减轻疼痛和在组织细胞方面造成的肿胀。但是阿司匹林还是可以伤到胃和小肠。并且有时候还会造成出血。】

But a British study released in two thousand nine suggests that taking another drug with a small amount of aspirin may help reduce the risk of bleeding. If that proves true, it would help thousands of people who are seeking to prevent life-threatening conditions.

【 但是发表于2009的一个英国研究建议说在服用小剂量的阿司匹林的时候加以另一种药物可能会减少出现出血的危险。如果这证明是正确的话，就可以帮助数千寻找方法可以阻止这种出血情况发生的人们。】

BOB DOUGHTY:

Many people take aspirin to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke from blood clots. Clots can block the flow of blood to the heart or brain and cause a heart attack or stroke. Scientists say aspirin prevents blood cells called platelets from sticking together to form clots.

【 一些人服用阿司匹林来减少心脏病突发和因血液凝块而造成的中风的危险。血液凝块可以阻碍到心脑血管血液的流通。科学家说阿司匹林预防被称作血小板的血液细胞聚集到一起导致血液凝块。】

A California doctor named Lawrence Craven first noted this effect sixty years ago. He observed unusual bleeding in children who chewed on an aspirin product to ease the pain after a common operation.

【一位叫做Lawrence Craven加利福尼亚的医生于60年前首次提出阿司匹林的这个作用。他注意到在那些做完手术服用阿司匹林的孩子们会减轻痛苦。】

Doctor Craven believed that the bleeding took place because aspirin prevented blood from thickening. He thought this effect might help prevent heart attacks caused by blood clots.

【 Craven医生相信出血的发生时因为阿司匹林可以预防血液变稠。他认为这个功效可能会帮助预防由血液凝块而引起的心脏病。】

He examined the medical records of eight thousand aspirin users and found no heart attacks in this group. He invited other scientists to test his ideas. But it was years before large studies took place.

【 他调查了8000个阿司匹林服用者的药物记录并且发现在这些人中没有人有心脏病。他邀请一些别的科学家来测试这个想法。但是在大规模的实验之前的几年中这个想法并没有受到重视。】

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Charles Hennekens of Harvard Medical School led one of the studies. In nineteen eighty-three, he began to study more than twenty-two thousand healthy male doctors over forty years of age. Half took an aspirin every other day. The others took what they thought was aspirin. But it was only a placebo, a harmless substance.

【 哈佛医学院的Charles Hennekens负责这个研究。在1982年，他开始研究超过22000个健康的40岁以上的男性医生。他们其中的半数隔天服用一片阿司匹林。另外的呢服用他们所认为的阿司匹林。但是那只是一片安慰剂，一种无害的物质。】

Five years later, Doctor Hennekens reported that people who took aspirin reduced their risk of a heart attack. But they had a higher risk of bleeding in the brain than the other doctors.

【 五年后，医生Hennekens采访了那些服用阿司匹林减少他们得心脏病风险的人。但是他们比别的医生有着更高风险得脑溢血。】

BOB DOUGHTY:

Last year, a group of experts examined studies of aspirin at the request of federal health officials in the United States. The experts said people with an increased risk of a heart attack should take a low-strength aspirin every day.

【 去年，一个专家团受美国联邦卫生官员们的邀请来测试阿司匹林的研究成果。专家们说有很大风险得心脏病的人们可以每天服用小剂量的阿司匹林。】

Aspirin may help someone who is having a heart attack caused by a blockage in a blood vessel. Aspirin thins the blood, so it may be able to flow past the blockage. But heart experts say people should seek emergency help immediately. And they say an aspirin is no substitute treatment, only for temporary help.

【 阿司匹林可能帮助由血管堵塞而造成心脏病的人们。阿司匹林可以使血细胞变小，因此可以使血液通过血塞。但是心脏专家说病人必须立马寻找紧急帮助。并且专家们说一片阿司匹林对处理没有替代作用，只能是暂时的帮助。】

FAITH LAPIDUS:

But what about reducing pain? Aspirin competes with many other medicines for reducing pain and high body temperature. The competition includes acetaminophen, the active substance in products like Tylenol. Like the medicine ibuprofen, aspirin is an NSAID -- a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.

【 但是阿司匹林是如何减少疼痛的呢？阿司匹林会和其他药物来竞争达到减少疼痛和高温的效果。这些竞争对手包括退热净，活性物质比如像羟苯基乙酰胺。像布洛芬类似的药物，阿司匹林是一种非甾体抗炎药---一种非甾族的抗炎药物。】

Several studies have found that men who take aspirin and other NSAIDS have a decreased risk of prostate cancer. The prostate is part of the male reproductive system.

【 一些个研究发现服用阿司匹林和其他非甾体抗炎药的男性会减少得前列腺癌的概率。前列腺是男性生殖系统的部分。】

BOB DOUGHTY:

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota wanted to see how NSAIDs might affect prostates that are enlarged but not cancerous. They followed the health of two thousand, five hundred men for twelve years.

【 在明尼苏达的梅奥诊所的研究者们想要看看NSAIDs是如何影响使前列腺肿胀而并非癌变。他们跟踪调查了2000人的健康状况，花20年调查了500个男性】

The researchers said these drugs may delay or stop development of an enlarged prostate. They said the risk of an enlarged prostate was fifty percent lower in the users than the other men. The risk of bladder problems was thirty-five percent lower.

【 研究者说这些药物可能要减少或停止肿胀的前列腺的发展。他们说服用非甾体抗炎药患前列腺肿大的风险比那些不服用的要少50%，同样对于膀胱的问题是则是低了35%。】

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FAITH LAPIDUS:

Other studies have suggested that aspirin can help with cancer prevention and survival. They showed that aspirin may help prevent cancers of the stomach, intestines and colon.

【 一些研究暗示阿司匹林可以帮助预防和抑制癌症的发生。研究显示出阿司匹林可能会帮助预防胃癌，肠癌和结肠癌。】

Researchers reported in two thousand nine about people who had colorectal cancer. They found that aspirin users had an almost thirty percent lower risk of dying from their cancer. That was during an average of eleven years after the cancer was discovered.

【 研究者报道说大约在2000个人中有9个人患有结肠癌。他们发现服用阿司匹林的人有接近降低30%的死亡概率相比于那些不服用阿司匹林但是患有癌症的。这种情况大约当癌症发现后的平均11左右发生。】

BOB DOUGHTY:

Two years ago, European researchers reported that aspirin may have what they called a “long-term protective effect against colorectal cancer.” Peter Rothwell of the University of Oxford led the researchers. They examined twenty years of results from four large studies.

【 两年前，欧洲的研究者报道说阿司匹林可能有一种被称作“一个长期积极作用于防御结肠直肠癌”。 哈佛大学Peter Rothwell负责这个研究，他们从四个大型研究项目中测试了20年得到的以下结果。】

The studies involved fourteen thousand people. Some of them took a seventy-five milligram baby aspirin once a day. Others took a three hundred milligram, adult-sized aspirin.

【 这个研究共有14000参与。他们中的一些人每天服用75毫克婴儿用剂量的阿司匹林。别的每天服用300毫克成人用剂量的阿司匹林。】

The researchers found that people who took one aspirin a day for about six years reduced their risk of colon cancer by twenty-four percent. And deaths from the disease dropped by thirty-five percent. That was in comparison to those who took a harmless substance or nothing at all.

【 研究者们发现持六年续每天服用一粒阿司匹林的人减少了24%获得结肠癌的概率。并且死亡率也降低了35个百分点。这个对照是和那些服用无害物质或者什么也没有的人而言的。】

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Last week, the Lancet published the combined results of a larger observational study, also led by Professor Rothwell. This time, he and researchers examined eight studies that involved more than twenty-five thousand individuals.

【 上周，Lancet发表了也是由Rothwell教授负责的一个更大的观察研究的联合结果。这次，他和研究者们测试了8个大的调查包含超过25000个小项。】

They found that taking a small aspirin once a day reduced death rates from a number of common cancers. Taking seventy-five milligrams of aspirin daily for five years reduced the risk of bowel cancer by one-fourth. Deaths from the disease fell by one-third.

【 他们发现每天服用一片阿司匹林会有效的减少很多种常见癌症的致死率。每天持续服用75毫克的阿司匹林五年减少四分之一得肠癌的危险。肠癌的死亡率也下降了三分一。】

BOB DOUGHTY:

Aspirin does not help everything, however. It can cause problems. For example, it can interfere with other medicines, although this is true of many drugs. Also, some people should not take aspirin. People who take other blood thinners or have bleeding disorders are among this group. Pregnant women are usually told to avoid aspirin.

【 但是阿司匹林不能够帮助治疗所有的疾病。它也会引起各种问题。比如，它可能会和干扰其他药物的作用，尽管其他药物也是如此(也就是药物会互相干扰)。而且，一些人不能服用阿司匹林。这些人在服用过阿司匹林后就会出现血液变稀或者血流紊乱的状况。怀孕中的女性通常被禁止服用阿司匹林。】

And research has shown a link between aspirin use and the disease Reye's syndrome. Children’s doctors say patients up to age nineteen should not take anything containing salicylatic products when sick with high temperatures.

【 并且研究表明服用阿司匹林和雷氏综合症有关系。儿科医生说超过19岁的病人不应该在高烧的时候服用包含salicylatic（这个和柳醇的那个单词比较相似，本人感觉应该是类柳醇化合物）的药物。】

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Experts say most people should not take aspirin for disease prevention without first talking to a doctor because there are risks to taking aspirin. Some researchers have even said that some people get little or no protection from aspirin. So research continues on one of the oldest and most widely used drugs in the world.

【 教授说大部分人最好不要在第一次没有去医院的情况下就使用阿司匹林来防御病痛，因为在引用阿司匹林的时候也有危险。一些研究者曾经说过一些人在使用阿司匹林过后只起到了很小甚至不起什么作用。所以，一些研究者继续使用存在于世界上的一些最老但是很广泛使用的办法来治疗病痛。】

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BOB DOUGHTY: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson and Christopher Cruise. Our producer was June Simms. I’m Bob Doughty.

【 小明：这里是由小刚和小亮撰稿的科技新闻版块。我们的主编是小强。我是小明。】

FAITH LAPIDUS: And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

【 小美：我是小美。请下周再同一时间继续关注VOA慢速英语科技新闻版块的更多新闻。】

【转载本人什么的都是神马啦~呵呵】