HEALTH REPORT - Aspirin After Bypass Surgery

HEALTH REPORT – November 13, 2002: Aspirin¹ After Bypass² Surgery

By Jerilyn Watson

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A new study says the common drug aspirin greatly reduces life-threatening problems after an operation to replace
blocked blood vessels³ to the heart. The operation involves attaching new blood vessels onto the heart to bypass
blockages⁴ in the arteries⁵ that feed blood to the heart.

More than eight-hundred-thousand people around the world have this heart bypass surgery each year. The doctors
who carried out the study say giving aspirin to patients soon after the operation could save thousands of lives.

People usually take aspirin to control pain and reduce high body temperature. Doctors also advise some people to
take aspirin to help prevent heart attacks.

About ten to fifteen percent of bypass operations end in death or damage to the heart, kidneys⁶ or intestines⁷. The
new study said even a small amount of aspirin reduced such threats. The doctors said the chance of death for
bypass patients in the hospital who took aspirin fell by sixty-seven percent. They said this was true if the aspirin
was given within forty-eight hours of the operation.

The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dennis Mangano (mahn-GAH-no) heads
the Ischemia Research and Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco, California. Doctor
Mangano led a team that examined the records of more than five-thousand patients in seventeen countries who
had a heart bypass operation. Some patients received aspirin daily after the operation. Other patients did not
receive aspirin.

The doctors believe aspirin aids bypass surgery patients in two ways. They say it prevents blood from thickening
and forming clots⁸ that block blood vessels. They also believe aspirin reduces inflammation in blood vessels
which increases after an operation and can damage organs.

Several medical organizations already advise that patients receive aspirin soon after bypass surgery because it
helps the new blood vessels. However, many doctors have advised against aspirin both before and after
operations. They fear it may cause severe bleeding. Doctor Mangano’s team did not report that bleeding was a
problem.

However, the doctors said people who have stomach or intestinal⁹ bleeding or other bad reactions from aspirin
should NOT receive it after bypass surgery.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

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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 bypass   

n.旁道；分流术；vt.绕过，越过...于不顾

参考例句：

• If we take the bypass we'll avoid the town centre.我们走旁道就能绕过镇中心。
• You cannot bypass this question.你不能回避这个问题。

3 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 blockages   

n.堵塞物( blockage的名词复数 )；堵塞，阻塞

参考例句：

• The storms could increase the risks posed by river blockages. 暴风雨会增加因河道堵塞所造成的危险。 来自互联网
• An angiogram shows the location and severity of blockages in blood vessels. 冠状动脉造影能够显示血管内的阻塞位置以及阻塞的严重程度。 来自互联网

5 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 kidneys   

肾形矿脉； 肾，肾脏( kidney的名词复数 )； （可食用的动物的）腰子

参考例句：

• The function of the kidneys is to excrete wastes from the body. 肾的功能是排泄人体里的废物。
• She got a very dangerous disease of kidneys. 她得了一种很危险的肾病。

7 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

8 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 intestinal   

adj.肠的；肠壁；肠道细菌

参考例句：

• A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
• This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句