VOA慢速英语-Health Report - New Findings on Children and Mental

This the VOA Special English Health Report.

People who are schizophrenic sometimes hear voices or see things that are not real. They might believe other people want to hurt them. They can become fearful and socially withdrawn¹.

Schizophrenia is explained on the National Institute of Mental Health Web site as a brain disorder² that is severe and disabling. It is also chronic³, meaning long term.

The disorder usually appears in males in their late teens or early twenties and in females in their twenties or thirties. Experts say it rarely appears in children, but when it does, it generally affects them more severely⁴ than adults.

Children with schizophrenia are often treated with "second-generation" antipsychotic drugs. But do these costly⁵ newer drugs work better than older ones that cost less? The National Institute of Mental Health recently paid for a study by four universities in the United States. The research teams found that the answer was no.

They studied one hundred nineteen people between the ages of eight and nineteen. The patients were observed over an eight-week period. Some received risperidone or olanzapine, two newer drugs. Others received a first-generation antipsychotic drug, molindone.

The researchers found that all of the patients experienced about the same improvement. But the risperidone and olanzapine caused serious weight gain.

In fact, the institute cancelled the olanzapine research because the patients who took it gained an average of almost six kilograms. The concern was that the weight gain could lead to diabetes⁶.

The study appeared in the American Journal of Psychiatry⁷.

Past studies have shown that children born to older fathers have a higher risk of schizophrenia as well as autism. Now, scientists are finding evidence of a similar link for bipolar disorder. This disorder is marked by periods of extremes in mood and behavior. It was formerly⁸ called manic depression.

A new study in Sweden involved more than thirteen thousand patients with bipolar disorder. Researchers compared them to similar people of the same age and sex who did not have the disorder.

The study found that fathers fifty-five and older were one and a third times more likely to have a bipolar child than fathers twenty to twenty-four. The scientists say the reason could be that older sperm⁹ is more likely to cause genetic¹⁰ abnormalities. The findings are in this month's Archives of General Psychiatry.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver¹¹. I'm Steve Ember.

1 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

2 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。

3 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

7 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

8 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

9 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

10 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

11 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。