VOA慢速英语 2007 0530a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A recent study in Tanzania found that when pregnant women took vitamins every day, 
 
fewer babies were born too small.

Babies that weigh less than two and one-half kilograms at birth have a greater risk of dying. Those that survive are more likely to experience problems with their development. And experts say that as adults they have a higher risk of diseases including heart disease and diabetes¹.

The World Health Organization estimates that every year twenty million babies are born with low birth weight. Nine out of ten of them are born in developing countries.

The new study took place in Dar es Salaam². Four thousand two hundred pregnant women received multivitamins. The pills contained all of the vitamins in the B group along with vitamins C and E. They also contained several times more iron and folate than the levels advised for women in developed nations. Pregnant women especially in poor countries may find it difficult to get enough vitamins and minerals from the foods in their diet.

The scientists compared the findings with results from a group of four thousand women who did not receive the vitamins.

A report by the scientists, from the United States and Tanzania, appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. Wafaie Fawzi of the Harvard University School of Public Health led the study.

None of the women in the study had H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The scientists reported earlier that daily multivitamins were a low-cost way to reduce fetal deaths in pregnant women infected with H.I.V.

The earlier work in Tanzania also found improvement in the mothers in their number of blood cells known as lymphocytes. Lymphocytes increase the body's immunity³ against infection.

The new study in pregnant women who were not infected with the AIDS virus found that multivitamins reduced the risk of low birth weight. Just under eight percent of the babies born to women who took the multivitamins weighed less than two thousand five hundred grams. The rate was almost nine and one-half percent in the group of women who received a placebo⁴, an inactive pill, instead of the vitamins.

But the vitamins did not do much to reduce the rates of babies being born too early or dying while still a fetus⁵. Still, the researchers say multivitamins should be considered for all pregnant women in developing countries.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Steve Ember.

1 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

2 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

3 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

4 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。

5 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。