VOA慢速英语2010年-Health Report - Finding New Ways to Tr

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Rheumatoid arthritis¹ is a painful disease that can destroy joints³. Women are three times more likely to get it than men.

Rheumatoid arthritis is considered an autoimmune disease, a disease where the body attacks healthy cells. The exact cause is unknown. But in a recent study, an experimental drug showed signs of halting the disorder⁴ in laboratory mice.

Harris Perlman is a medical researcher at Northwestern University in Illinois. He says normally a protein in healthy immune cells causes the cells to die after they attack an invading virus or bacteria. But in rheumatoid arthritis, that protein is missing in some immune cells. Instead, the protein builds up in the joints and attacks cartilage and bone.

Professor Perlman developed what he calls a suicide molecule⁵. It acts like the protein that directs cells to self-destruct. He says the suicide molecule halted and even reduced rheumatoid arthritis in seventy-five percent of the mice in the study. He believes the treatment could also work in people.

Current treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can reduce pain, but they do not work for everyone. They also have side effects such as an increased risk of infection. Harris Perlman says the new treatment produced no major side effects in the mice.

The study appeared earlier this year in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism⁶.

Women are three times more likely to get rheumatoid arthritis than men

Arthritis is not a single disease. The MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia⁷, a United States government website, says there are more than one hundred different kinds.

Arthritis produces pain, swelling⁸ and limited movement in one or more joints. It involves the breakdown⁹ of cartilage. Joints need cartilage for smooth movement and to absorb shock when you put pressure on a joint².

Arthritis can be caused by injury, infection, an autoimmune disease or just long-term use. Some forms are curable, others are not. Some autoimmune forms of arthritis, if not treated, may cause joints to become deformed¹⁰.

The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, is more likely to affect older people. It most commonly affects the hips¹¹, knees or fingers. Overweight people have a higher risk of osteoarthritis. Other risk factors are repeatedly putting stress on a joint or having an earlier injury.

A physical therapist can design an individualized exercise program to reduce arthritis pain and support healthy joints. Getting plenty of sleep, reducing stress and eating a diet high in vitamins and minerals can also help.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Bob Doughty
 

1 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

6 rheumatism   

n.风湿病

参考例句：

• The damp weather plays the very devil with my rheumatism.潮湿的天气加重了我的风湿病。
• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。

7 encyclopedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• The encyclopedia fell to the floor with a thud.那本百科全书砰的一声掉到地上。
• Geoff is a walking encyclopedia.He knows about everything.杰夫是个活百科全书，他什么都懂。

8 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

9 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

10 deformed   

adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的

参考例句：

• He was born with a deformed right leg.他出生时右腿畸形。
• His body was deformed by leprosy.他的身体因为麻风病变形了。

11 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》