VOA标准英语2013--US Researchers Hope to Increase Availability of Donor Lungs

 

US Researchers Hope to Increase Availability of Donor¹ Lungs 

WASHINGTON — U.S. scientists are conducting a study that they hope will increase the number of donor lungs available to patients needing transplants. Their effort is  aimed at finding the best way to preserve the lungs from a deceased person until they can be transplanted into a patient who needs them.

Lungs remain viable² longer than other organs because of the air left inside them after a person's death. Dr. Thomas Egan, the leader of the project, said researchers  hope to find a way to delay the onset³ of decay even more.

"This would have a profound impact on the number of lungs that are available for transplant. Right now in the United States, we do 1,800 lung transplants a year.  We  think that we could be doing upwards⁴ of 40- to 50,000 lung transplants a year," said Egan.

For thousands of people across the country, a lung transplant is their only hope to one day breathe normally. But harvesting the organs from donors⁵ who die suddenly,  and not in a hospital, is often complicated. Because of this, up to 80 percent of donated lungs aren't usable. While most lungs for transplants come from donors who  died in a hospital, they are frequently damaged by ventilators and other complications during long hospital stays. Egan wants to reach sudden death victims in their  homes, or elsewhere in the community, and have medical workers pump a little air into their lungs to preserve them while the body is transported to an operating room  for organ recovery.

Egan's team’s methods include a procedure called ex vivo lung perfusion, which uses a machine to infuse air and fluids through the lungs to prolong their life. The  process also allows the lungs to be inspected for disease and other potential problems.

"By doing this repeatedly, we're likely to get more efficient, which will potentially improve opportunities to not only transplant lungs but have lungs function better  after recovery following sudden death," said Egan.

Lungs that pass health checks will be transplanted into patients taking part in a National Institutes of Health-funded study. One such patient, Lisa Bowman, has been  on the waiting list for new lungs for two years after a rare genetic⁶ disease gradually damaged her own. She is hoping the study will help her find a matching lung  donor sooner.  "I cannot think of… anything that would be more exciting. I think that would be the greatest thing to have - to be able to breathe normal," said  Bowman.

Transplant specialists around the world will be watching the program with keen interest. 

1 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

2 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

3 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

4 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

5 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。