VOA标准英语2010-Breakthrough Energizes Hunt for Sleeping

Scientists in Scotland say they may have found a new treatment for sleeping sickness, which could be ready for clinical trial within 18 months. The disease is fatal and infects around 60,000 people in Africa annually¹.

Sleeping sickness is spread by a parasite² that infects the central nervous system and, if left untreated, moves to the spinal³ column and brain, resulting in mental confusion and eventual⁴ death.

Paul Wyatt led the study at the Drug Discovery for Tropical Diseases program at the University of Dundee.  He says their research has identified an "Achilles' heel" of the parasite - an enzyme⁵ that is needed for the parasite's survival.

"We've identified a weakness in the parasite that can be exploited with drugs. And the other  breakthrough we've made is we've actually discovered some molecules⁶ which are on the way to being potential drugs for the disease as well," he said.

The research was published in the latest edition of the Britain-based scientific journal Nature.

"We have a number of hurdles⁷ still ahead," said Wyatt. "We have to make sure that the compound will be sufficiently⁸ efficacious to be used in the clinical setting, it has to be safe, and again we can make the drug sufficiently cheaply that it will be appropriate for the use in the clinical setting."

There are already two drugs available to fight sleeping sickness, but they are both problematic. One is an arsenic-based drug that kills five percent of users. The other, eflornithine, is expensive, requires prolonged hospital treatment and is only partially⁹ effective.

Francois Chappuis is a specialist in Neglected Tropical Diseases with the international health organization Doctors Without Borders.

He says an inexpensive and easy-to-use medicine for sleeping sickness is badly needed. "In areas where the sleeping sickness is still very prevalent such as remote areas of some central African  countries, which are by the way very unstable¹⁰ areas, it will be also crucial to have simpler treatment and obviously oral treatment would be the best," he said.
Lesion on shoulder, which is symptomatic of Sleeping Sickness

Sleeping sickness is one of a group of diseases known as "neglected tropical diseases." According to the World Health Organization, one sixth of the world's population suffers from one or more of the neglected diseases.

Chappuis says those diseases have a low profile and scarce financial investment, compared to  HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis¹¹ and malaria¹². However, the neglected diseases affect most severely¹³ those who are poor and disadvantaged.

"These patients, they live in very remote areas. And you know we should not talk about neglected disease, but we should talk about neglected populations. These populations, they have no political voice - neither at national or international levels," He added.

The World Health Organization estimates that between 50,000 and 70,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with sleeping sickness, which is spread by the tsetse fly. The organization says 60 million people are at risk of infection.
 

1 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

2 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

3 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。

4 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

5 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。

6 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

8 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

9 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

10 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

11 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

12 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

13 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。