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26 关于飞行缺氧的原因分析
DATE=3-22-01
TITLE=SCIENCE REPORT - Hypoxia While Flying
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
(Start at 59") This is the VOA Special English Science Report.
Airline industry officials say as many as one-hundred people a year die from medical problems suffered while travelling on airplanes.
One of these problems is (1)hypoxia, a lack of oxygen to the (2)brain. Medical experts say the body begins losing oxygen minutes after a plane leaves the ground. The air pressure inside an airplane in flight is lower than at sea level. This makes it more difficult for the body to (3)effectively use the same amount of oxygen as it would on the ground. Fewer oxygen (4)molecules cross the (5)tissues in the lungs and reach the bloodstream.
The result is a five to twenty percent drop in the amount of oxygen in the blood. This reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches the (6)organs of the body.
A (7)headache is one result of this lack of oxygen to the brain. When this happens, the heart tries to fix the situation by beating harder and faster. This can make the person feel tired.
These signs of hypoxia are not dangerous in a healthy person. But a drop in oxygen level can cause a health (8)emergency in people with lung or heart problems. They might lose (9)consciousness or even suffer a heart attack.
Medical experts say another cause of hypoxia in flight is the use of alcohol or (10)cigarettes before getting on the plane. Drinking alcohol reduces the body's ability to use oxygen effectively. Cigarette smoking damages the tissues in the lungs where oxygen is exchanged. Experts say people should not drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes either before or during a flight. The result could be chest pain or a heart attack.
A health study completed last year showed that having a meal before flying can prevent such problems. Makoto Matsumura of the Saitama Medical School in Japan reported the findings at an American Heart Association meeting.
The study involved twelve people in a pressure-controlled room. Researchers produced conditions (11)similar to those on an (12)airplane in flight. They tested the peoples' health before and after eating and drinking. They found that eating a meal increased oxygen levels in the brain by forty-eight percent. It increased oxygen in other organs by twenty-one percent.
Medical (13)experts say flying is generally safe. But they say people with heart, lung or blood problems should talk to their doctors before traveling on an airplane.
This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.
(1) hypoxia[ hai5pCksiE ]n.[医]组织缺氧,氧不足
(2) brain[ brein ]n.脑, 头脑
(3) effectively[I5fektIvlI]adv.有效地, 有力地
(4) molecule[ 5mClikju:l, 5mEu- ]n.[化]分子, 些微
(5) tissue[ 5tisju: ]n.薄的纱织品, 薄纸, 棉纸, [生]组织, 连篇
(6) organ[ 5C:^En ]n.[机]元件, 机构, 机关, 机关报[乐]风琴, 管风琴, 嗓音[生物]器官
(7) headache[5hedeIk]n.头痛, 令人头痛之事
(8) emergency[ i5mE:dVnsi ]n.紧急情况, 突然事件, 非常时刻, 紧急事件
(9) consciousness[ 5kCnFEsnis ]n.意识, 知觉, 自觉, 觉悟, 个人思想
(10) cigarette[ si^E5ret ]n.香烟, 纸烟
(11) similar[ 5similE ]adj.相似的, 类似的
(12) airplane[ 5ZE7plein ]n.飞机
(13) expert[ 5ekspE:t ]n.专家, 行家, [军](特等)射手adj.老练的, 内行的, 专门的
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