VOA慢速英语20060315a

HEALTH REPORT - Dana Reeve's Death Adds to Questions on Lung Cancer in Women By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, March 15, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Experts say that each year more than one million people worldwide die of lung cancer. It is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.

Last week, Dana Reeve died of lung cancer at the age of forty-four. The singer and actress became an activist¹ for victims of spinal² cord injuries after her husband's horse riding accident. She took care of Superman actor Christopher Reeve for nine years. He died in October of two thousand four.


Dana and Christopher Reeve in 2003

Last August Dana Reeve announced that she had lung cancer. Smoking is linked to about ninety percent of cases.

But Dana Reeve did not smoke.

Researchers say this is true of up to thirty percent of American women who develop lung cancer. In fact, experts say a higher rate of non-smoking women get the disease than non-smoking men.

Studies have shown that men and women react differently to tobacco smoke. Scientists are not sure why. Some suggest that cells in women's lungs mighty³ be more easily damaged by smoking. There could be genetic⁴ or environmental reasons.

Experts say even people who do not smoke could still be considered passive smokers⁵ if they breathe other people's tobacco. Derek Raghavan is director of the Cancer Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He thinks secondhand smoke causes at least half the cases of lung cancer in non-smokers.

The cause in Dana Reeve's case is not known. But Doctor Raghavan notes that singers and other people in the entertainment business often work around smokers.

A common sign of lung cancer is a cough that does not go away and gets worse over time. Other common signs include chest pain, coughing up blood, shortness of breath and repeated cases of pneumonia⁶.

By the time most people feel sick enough to see a doctor, the cancer has spread too far to be treated effectively. The five-year survival⁷ rate is only about fifteen percent.

Treatment includes removing the growth. Chemotherapy drugs and radiation can help kill cancer cells and shrink the tumor⁸.

There is no cure. And two support groups, the Lung Cancer Alliance⁹ and Women Against Lung Cancer, say there is not enough money for research. For now, researchers say the best way to fight lung cancer is to try to prevent it.

Dana Reeve leaves behind a thirteen-year-old son and Christopher Reeve's two adult children.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Steve Ember.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

3 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

4 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。

5 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

6 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

7 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

8 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

9 alliance   

n.同盟，同盟国，结盟，联姻

参考例句：

• China will not enter into alliance with any big power.中国不同任何大国结盟。
• The new alliance was very much in evidence.新的联盟上星期很引人注目。