美国国家公共电台 NPR Study Questions Mainstay Treatment For Mild Asthma

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

About 26 million Americans have asthma¹. Many carry a rescue inhaler for when they have an attack, and they might also use a steroid inhaler to prevent future attacks. But there's a recent study suggesting these prevention inhalers might not actually work. From member station KQED in San Francisco, April Dembosky reports.

APRIL DEMBOSKY, BYLINE²: Since the early '90s, the gold standard for treating patients with mild asthma is to use a low-dose steroid inhaler every day. The thinking was if people with mild symptoms used the inhaler early on, it would prevent permanent damage to their airways³. But when the medications didn't seem to help stave off asthma attacks, doctors like Stephen Lazarus blamed the patients.

STEPHEN LAZARUS: I think we've attributed their poor asthma control to the fact they weren't taking their medicines. And it may be that many of them were taking their medicines - they just weren't working.

DEMBOSKY: Dr. Lazarus and his team at the University of California in San Francisco decided⁴ to look into it. They studied 300 patients with mild asthma. And in the end, more than half of them did just as well or better on a placebo⁵ inhaler as those that used the real steroid inhaler, mometasone.

LAZARUS: We may be giving people steroids, subjecting them to potential adverse⁶ effects and the increased cost, without a significant clinical benefit.

DEMBOSKY: Merck, the drug company that makes mometasone, declined to comment on the study. While inhaled⁷ steroids are generally safe, there is some risk for cataracts⁸, glaucoma and bone loss. That has long been a concern for asthma patient Suzanne Leigh.

SUZANNE LEIGH: I'm a low-BMI white woman with history of autoimmune disease, which puts me at high risk for osteoporosis.

DEMBOSKY: She works in the university's media department. And when she read the study, she was frustrated⁹. She takes an asthma drug that costs $500, and it increases her chances of breaking a hip¹⁰ down the line. And it may not even work.

LEIGH: I don't know where I go from here. Do I continue with the medication, or do I stop and end up in the emergency department?

DEMBOSKY: Dr. Lazarus tells Leigh if the drug stops her from waking up in the middle of the night unable to breathe, then it doesn't matter what the data says. She should continue using it. But in general, he says there is no magic lab test that can show which asthma patients will respond to inhalers and which ones won't.

LAZARUS: If you have people who are taking inhaled steroids, and they're not responding, the answer is not necessarily to just continue to escalate¹¹ the dose but to question whether there's an alternative.

DEMBOSKY: Lazarus says these results suggest it's time to re-evaluate standard treatments for mild asthma. For NPR News, I'm April Dembosky in San Francisco.

(SOUNDBITE OF GEOTIC'S "SUNSPELL")

1 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

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 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 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。

6 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

7 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 cataracts   

n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障

参考例句：

• The rotor cataracts water over the top of the machines. 回转轮将水从机器顶上注入。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Cataracts of rain flooded the streets. 倾盆大雨弄得街道淹水。 来自辞典例句

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

11 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。