VOA标准英语2011--Acupuncture by Untrained Providers Poses Risks for Kids

Acupuncture¹ by Untrained Providers Poses Risks for Kids

 

In the hands of trained practitioners², acupuncture is a safe medical treatment, even for children. But a new study finds when acupuncture is performed by untrained providers, it can pose a serious risk to young patients.

Millions of people around the world use the ancient Chinese medical practice which involves inserting fine needles into the skin at specific sites around the body to treat illness or to provide anesthesia.

In most cases, concludes a study by Canadian researchers published in Pediatrics, acupuncture is safe enough to perform on children, including infants.

Anita Vohra, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, says people use acupuncture for a variety of conditions, including promotion³ of wellness and to reduce chronic⁴ pain or nausea⁵.

“There are some children who also have chronic pain. There are also children who have nausea and vomiting⁶. Those conditions are not exclusive to adults.”

In a study of the outcomes of more than 14,000 pediatric patients over several decades, Vohra and her colleagues found just 253 reports of minor⁷ adverse⁸ events. These included cases of pain, bruising⁹ and bleeding among infants and children after undergoing acupuncture.

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A Canadian study finds most acupuncture complications occur when procedures are performed by inexperienced or untrained providers.

But, in their review of 37 studies, including nine controlled trials, investigators¹⁰ discovered 25 reports of serious events in children treated with acupuncture needles.

The most common serious side effect included thumb deformities caused by the repeated insertion of needles over a year or more. Much less common, but more severe complications, included one case of HIV infection, a cardiac rupture¹¹ in a boy found at autopsy¹² to have needle marks in his diaphragm, lung collapse in a girl treated for an asthma¹⁴ attack, and severe nerve damage in a boy who had 70 needles imbedded throughout his body.

Vohra says most of the complications occurred when procedures were performed by inexperienced or untrained acupuncturists, but adds such malpractice is highly unusual.

“In most places, providing needle acupuncture is a regulated act. That is, the health care provider has to have special knowledge, training, and certification in order to actually do that act," says Vohra. "And so under modern day standards, we think that those kinds of harms that we found in the serious harms category are extremely unlikely to happen. But that’s not to say they didn’t occur. Of course they did. Which is why we think it’s very important for children, for anyone receiving acupuncture, to make sure that they are in the hands of someone who has appropriate training.”

1 acupuncture   

n.针灸，针刺法，针疗法

参考例句：

• Written records show that acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty.文字记载表明，宋朝就已经有了针灸。
• It's known that acupuncture originated in China.众所周知，针灸起源于中国。

2 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

3 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

4 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。

5 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

6 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

7 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

8 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。

9 bruising   

adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式)

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow. 他滑倒了，一只胳膊肘严重擦伤。 来自辞典例句

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

12 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

13 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

14 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。