经济学人127:癌症预防 灵丹妙药

 　　Technology Prevention of cancer Wonder drug

　　科技 癌症预防 灵丹妙药

　　Aspirin¹ continues to amaze

　　阿司匹林：继续给你惊喜

　　FOR thousands of years aspirin has been humanity's wonder drug.

　　阿司匹林作为人类的特效药实际上已存在了数千年。

　　Extracts from the willow² tree have been used for pain relief in folk medicine since the time of the ancient Greeks.

　　早在古希腊时期，民间就使用柳树的提取物作为药物来缓解疼痛。

　　By 1897 a synthetic³ derivative⁴ (acetyl salicylic acid) of the plant's active ingredient (salicin) was created.

　　到了1897年，一种取自柳树的活性成分柳醇（水杨苷）的衍生合成物——乙酰水杨酸诞生了。

　　This allowed aspirin to become the most widely used medicine in the world.

　　这使得阿司匹林成为世界上使用最为广泛的药物。

　　In recent years its benefits as a blood-thinning drug have led to it being prescribed in low doses of around 50mg to reduce deaths from stroke and heart attack.

　　因其具有稀释血液的作用，近年来医界已使用50mg左右的低剂量阿司匹林来降低中风和心脏病带来的死亡危险。

　　There were also hints that aspirin may help prevent some cancers.

　　也有消息称阿司匹林还可预防某些癌症，

　　But these were mostly based on observational studies, which can be misleading.

　　但大多都是基于观测研究得来的，不可全信。

　　The gold standard of scientific evidence is the randomised controlled trial, preferably one with a lot of people and held over a long time.

　　获得科学证明的最佳标准就是随机临床试验，最好是长期且有大批人参加的。

　　The results of just such a trial, published in the Lancet, suggest that aspirin is indeed an astonishing drug.

　　正是这样一个试验，发表在Lancet上的结果表明，阿司匹林的确是一种令人称奇的药物。

　　Peter Rothwell at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford⁵ and his colleagues looked at deaths due to cancers during and after randomised trials of daily aspirin.

　　牛津约翰拉德克利夫医院的Peter Rothwell与其同事们以随机试验的方式观察了罹患癌症的病人在每日使用阿司匹林期间与其后的状况。

　　The trials had actually been started to look at how useful aspirin was for preventing heart attacks and strokes. Nevertheless, the data from the 25,570 patients enrolled⁶ in eight trials was also revealing about cancer.

　　实际上开始试验的目的是为了查看阿司匹林对于预防心脏病与中风的效果，尽管如此，从25,570名病人身上收集的8个试验的数据同样表明了这种药物对癌症的作用。

　　In trials lasting⁷ between four and eight years, the patients who had been given aspirin were 21% less likely to die from cancer than those who had been given a placebo⁸.

　　在长达四年到八年不等的试验过程中，使用阿司匹林的病人，因癌症死亡的概率比使用安慰剂的病人要低21%。

　　These results were based on 674 cancer deaths, so are unlikely to represent the kind of statistical⁹ oddity that can beset¹⁰ studies on cancer risks that sometimes create headlines.

　　这一结果是基于674名罹患癌症面临死亡的病人，因而对于那种围绕研究癌症风险给人提前判死刑（缓刑）的概率学数据，还不大能拉得上关系。

　　The benefits of aspirin were also apparent many years after the trials had ended.

　　阿司匹林的良性作用在试验结束多年后仍明显存在于用药人群身上。

　　After five years, death rates for all cancers fell by 35% and for gastrointestinal cancers by 54%.

　　试验结束五年后，所有癌症患者的死亡率下降了35%，肠胃癌症病人更是下降了54%。

　　A long-term follow-up of patients showed that the 20-year risk of cancer death remained 20% lower in those who had taken aspirin.

　　一项长期的跟踪观察试验表明，在患有癌症，并且有20年的"缓刑期"的人群当中，服用阿司匹林的人其死亡率要低20%。

　　The study revealed that the effect takes time to accrue¹¹, so aspirin must be taken over a long period.

　　这一试验说明了阿司匹林的药效需要经过长时间的累积，因此阿司匹林需长期服用才有效果。

　　The latent period for improving oesophageal, pancreatic, brain and lung cancer was about five years of aspirin taking on a daily basis.

　　对于食道癌、胰脏癌、脑癌及肺癌，大约需持续5年每日服用阿司匹林才可见效；

　　For stomach and colorectal cancer the effects took ten years and for prostate cancer about 15 years.

　　对胃癌、直肠癌，需10年；前列腺癌则需约15年。

　　The means by which aspirin prevents cancer is not well understood. It is believed that it inhibits¹² an enzyme¹³ that promotes cell proliferation in tumours¹⁴.

　　阿司匹林预防癌症的机理现在还不明了，但人们普遍认为，它通过抑制一种有助于癌细胞繁殖的酶而起效。

　　The researchers also found that small daily doses of aspirin were enough, and that taking more than 75mg conferred no additional benefits.

　　研究者还发现，每日接受小剂量的阿司匹林就已足够，超过75毫克并没有过多的效用。

　　Those starting on aspirin in their late 40s or 50s benefit most.

　　而服用者当中，接近50岁或50多岁的人收效最好。

　　Current guidelines on using aspirin for reducing the chances of a stroke or heart attack rightly warn of the small risk of ulcers¹⁵ and of dangerous bleeding in the stomach.

　　目前在服用阿司匹林以降低中风或心脏病风险时，用药说明明确指出了其中存在较低的可能引起溃疡或危险性胃出血的风险。

　　These guidelines will probably have to be revised given the new findings.

　　估计这类说明需要将那些最新发现加上去了。

　　However, it remains¹⁶ unlikely that popping aspirin will be recommended for everyone like a vitamin supplement.

　　但是，还是不大可能推荐大家像嗑维生素片一样嗑阿司匹林。

　　Aspirin is a highly cost-effective treatment: taking it for five to ten years easily beats initiatives to screen for breast and prostate cancers.

　　服用阿司匹林是一种高性价比的治疗方式：服用阿司匹林五到十年绝对强过定期去做乳腺癌或前列腺癌的仪器检查。

　　To put it another way, ask yourself what a pharmaceuticals¹⁷ firm might charge for a drug that would reduce the chance of death by cancer by 20%—and then note that 100 days' supply of low-dose aspirin can cost less than a dollar.

　　换个说法就是：你想把患癌症死亡的概率降低20%，只需每日服用低剂量的阿司匹林，而每100天你只需向药商付不到1美元。

　　By anyone's measure, that is a bargain.

　　还有比这更划算的事吗？相信对任何人而言，这都再便宜不过了。

1 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

2 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

3 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

4 derivative   

n.派(衍)生物；adj.非独创性的，模仿他人的

参考例句：

• His paintings are really quite derivative.他的画实在没有创意。
• Derivative works are far more complicated.派生作品更加复杂。

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

8 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

9 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

10 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

11 accrue   

v.(利息等)增大，增多

参考例句：

• Ability to think will accrue to you from good habits of study.思考能力将因良好的学习习惯而自然增强。
• Money deposited in banks will accrue to us with interest.钱存在银行，利息自生。

12 inhibits   

阻止，抑制( inhibit的第三人称单数 )； 使拘束，使尴尬

参考例句：

• A small manufacturing sector inhibits growth in the economy. 制造业规模太小有碍经济增长。
• His bad English inhibits him from speaking freely. 他英语学得不好，这使他不能表达自如。

13 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

14 tumours   

肿瘤( tumour的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Blood vessels develop abnormally in cancer tumours. 在癌肿瘤中血管出现不正常。
• This apparatus scans patients' brains for tumours. 这台仪器扫描检查病人的脑瘤。

15 ulcers   

n.溃疡( ulcer的名词复数 )；腐烂物；道德败坏；腐败

参考例句：

• Detachment of the dead cells produces erosions and ulcers. 死亡细胞的脱落，产生糜烂和溃疡。 来自辞典例句
• 75% of postbulbar ulcers occur proximal to the duodenal papilla. 75％的球后溃疡发生在十二指肠乳头近侧。 来自辞典例句

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》