New Heart Attack Tests

By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: November 5, 2003

This is Phoebe Zimmermann with the VOA Special English Health Report.
A new blood test could give doctors a better way to tell if a person is in danger of a heart attack.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, developed the experimental test. It measures the amount of an 1)enzyme¹ produced by white blood cells. This 2)protein is called 3)myeloperoxidase, or M-P-O. M-P-O is present in the fatty material found on the 4)arteries² of people who die suddenly of a heart attack.
The researchers reported on their work in the New England Journal of Medicine. They studied more than six-hundred people over several months last year. All had arrived at the Emergency Room of the Cleveland Clinic within twenty-four hours of the start of chest pain.
The researchers found a link between high levels of M-P-O and the chances that a person would suffer a heart attack within six months. They also found that the M-P-O level in the blood correctly told a person's risk of heart disease ninety-five percent of the time.
Researchers had known that M-P-O plays a part in hardening of the arteries. They say the study is more proof of the risks of 5)inflammation in artery³ walls. Inflammation loosens some of the fatty 6)cholesterol⁴ material that attaches to the walls. The material can separate from the artery and block the flow of blood to the heart or the brain. The M-P-O level shows the amount of inflammation in arteries.
M-P-O is one of a number of substances being studied as ways to find the probability of heart disease. German researchers reported about a second one in the New England Journal of Medicine. It is called 7)glutathione peroxidase.
They measured levels of this molecule⁵ in the red blood cells of people with suspected 8)coronary artery disease. They studied more than six-hundred people for about five years. The study suggests that a low level of the molecule is a sign of a coming heart attack.
New blood tests like these would add to the ways that doctors decide what to do for patients with chest pain. The choice of treatment could reduce the chances of a heart attack. The tests themselves must be tested further. But the Cleveland researchers say their M-P-O test could be ready for use within a year.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Phoebe Zimmermann.

注释：
1) enzyme [5enzaim] n.（生化）酶
2) protein [5prEuti:n] n.（生化）蛋白质
3) myeloperoxidase [7maiElEupE5rCksideis] n.（生化）髓过氧物酶，绿过氧物酶
4) artery [5B:tEri] n.动脉
5) inflammation [7inflE5meiFEn] n.（医）炎症, 发炎
6) cholesterol [kE5lestErEul] n.胆固醇
7) glutathione [7^lu:tE5WaiEun] n.（生化）谷胱甘肽
8) coronary [5kCrEnEri] adj.冠的，冠状的

1 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

2 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

4 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

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。