美国国家公共电台 NPR Another Drug Crisis: Methamphetamine Use By Pregnant Women

Another Drug Crisis: Methamphetamine Use By Pregnant Women

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

A new study published today finds that a growing number of women in recent years have been using amphetamines like crystal meth during their pregnancy¹. The rates of use have grown disproportionately in different regions in the country, posing serious health risks to both the mother and the baby. NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reports.

RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE²: The new study found that as the rates of opioid use among pregnant women grew in recent years, so did the use of amphetamines, mostly methamphetamine. By 2015, tens of thousands of pregnant women were using these drugs.

LINDSAY ADMON: In total, we identified 82,000 deliveries that were affected³ by amphetamine use disorders⁵.

CHATTERJEE: Lindsay Admon is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan and an author of the study, which used a database of hospital discharge records between 2004 and 2015. Over this period, she says the rate of meth and prescription⁶ amphetamine use increased in three different regions of the country - the South, the Midwest and the West. Rural areas had higher rates than cities with the rural West having the highest rate of all regions.

ADMON: By 2014 to 2015, amphetamine use disorder⁴ was identified among approximately 1 percent of all deliveries in the rural western United States.

CHATTERJEE: That's higher than the rate of opioid use among pregnant women in most regions of the country. Admon says that methamphetamine puts pregnant women at a high risk of a range of health problems.

ADMON: So things like blood transfusion⁷, heart failure, cardiac arrest or having a heart attack and then eclampsia, which is sort of the most dangerous form of pre-eclampsia where a woman has a seizure⁸.

CHATTERJEE: And there are risks to the baby, too - for example, a condition called placental abruption which cuts off oxygen supply to the fetus⁹ and causes heavy bleeding in the mom. Mishka Terplan is an OB-GYN and an addiction¹⁰ specialist at Virginia Commonwealth¹¹ University.

MISHKA TERPLAN: This is the first national-level data looking at methamphetamine use amongst pregnant women since what we published in 2009.

CHATTERJEE: His study had looked at rates of pregnant women using the drug but at addiction treatment centers. Since then, he says the national attention fell off of methamphetamine because meth use was thought to be on the decline. But he says health care providers working in certain regions of the country never really saw the drugs go away.

TERPLAN: And many have been noting an increase in amphetamine and methamphetamine use in general as well as amongst pregnant women.

CHATTERJEE: One of those providers is Amanda Risser. She runs a program for pregnant women with substance use disorders at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

AMANDA RISSER: Over half of our patients that are being treated for opiate use disorders also have stimulant¹² use disorders, meaning that they're taking methamphetamines regularly.

CHATTERJEE: She says most patients want to stop using drugs when pregnant. But she says it's really hard to quit meth because the lows from the withdrawals¹³ are very strong, and there are no medications to treat this kind of substance use disorder.

RISSER: Really the best treatment for that is time and support and keeping someone in a safe environment.

CHATTERJEE: A safe environment where they don't have easy access to drugs, like the inpatient treatment center at her program. But there aren't many such facilities, says Risser, and most health care providers don't know how widespread the problem is. That's where the new study can help, she says.

RISSER: It really helps our community of providers to build, understand and characterize the scope of the problem.

CHATTERJEE: So that more providers can help take care of this growing problem which affects not one but two generations. Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.

1 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。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

7 transfusion   

n.输血，输液

参考例句：

• She soon came to her senses after a blood transfusion.输血后不久她就苏醒了。
• The doctor kept him alive by a blood transfusion.医生靠输血使他仍然活着。

8 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

9 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

10 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

11 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

12 stimulant   

n.刺激物，兴奋剂

参考例句：

• It is used in medicine for its stimulant quality.由于它有兴奋剂的特性而被应用于医学。
• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。

13 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句