DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Study Says Vitamins May Slow AIDS Virus

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Study Says Vitamins May Slow AIDS Virus
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, July 12, 2004

This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

A study of women infected with H.I.V. suggests that vitamins can delay the progress of AIDS. These are the results of a five-year study in Tanzania. The findings suggest that vitamins could delay the need to start costly² AIDS drugs in developing countries. Doctors say the drugs could then go to those who need them most.

American and Tanzanian scientists found that the vitamins increased counts of cells that fight disease. And there were some reductions in H.I.V. levels in the blood. H.I.V. is the virus that develops into AIDS.

There are fourteen kinds of vitamins. People who do not get enough of these chemical compounds in their food, or want more, often take multivitamins. The women in the study took multivitamins that contained large amounts of vitamin B, as well as vitamins C and E.

More than one-thousand pregnant women infected with H.I.V. took part. Some received a daily multivitamin without vitamin A. Others received a multivitamin plus vitamin A. Still others took vitamin A alone. The scientists gave placebo³ pills to a fourth group of women. These pills contained no vitamins at all.

The mothers received yearly medical examinations. The best results were reported in those who took multivitamins without vitamin A for the five years of the study. The researchers found that these mothers were fifty percent less likely to progress to AIDS as those in the placebo group.

Women who took multivitamins also had fewer problems such as mouth infections and diarrhea as their infection worsened. Still, death rates were not much different between the women who took multivitamins and those who did not.

The researchers say the multivitamins used in the study cost about fifteen dollars for a one-year supply. AIDS drugs can cost developing countries several hundred dollars or more.

The study did not include H.I.V. infected men. But Doctor Wafaie Fawzi at the Harvard School of Public Health says he believes men would also gain from multivitamins.

The New England Journal of Medicine published the results last week. Also last week, the United Nations reported that about five million people became infected with H.I.V. last year. That is the most yet. To hear more about the AIDS crisis, listen to the Health Report at this same time on Wednesday.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Robert Cohen.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 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。

3 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。