VOA标准英语2010年-Cheap Drug Could Cut Accident Deaths D

A low-cost, easy-to-use drug could save tens of thousands of lives each year, according to a new study. The medicine promotes blood clotting¹ and has been shown prevent many accident victims from bleeding to death.

Tranexamic acid, or TXA, is not new. It's a clotting drug that has been used in limited situations, such as some surgeries, where it reduces bleeding.

If it can reduce bleeding in the operating room, doctors wondered, why not in the emergency room?

To find out, about 20,000 accident victims in 40 countries from Albania to Zambia were randomly² assigned to either get the TXA treatment or not.

"We do a trial of a treatment that we hope would reduce bleeding," said study leader Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene³ and Tropical Medicine. "So we would hope to see there would be less deaths due to hemorrhage, and there was: quite highly significant reduction in the risk of dying due to hemorrhage. Fifteen reduction in the chances of dying if you got this drug."

That's the good news. But Roberts and his colleagues worried that a clotting drug might increase heart attacks or strokes.

"But we didn't find that either," Roberts said at a London news conference. "We saw a highly significant reduction in the risk of dying, and a highly significant increase in the patients who left hospital with no symptoms whatsoever⁴. So that's good news, too."

Patients were given two injections of the drug, which is no longer under patent protection and doesn't require special handling. With treatment costing less than $10 a patient, Roberts says it is remarkably⁵ cost-effective.

"It's probably one of the cheapest ways to save a life there ever is. So it compares favorably in terms of cost-effectiveness with anti-malarials, anti-retrovirals. The treatment is seriously cheap, and it doesn't get much more cost-effective than this," he said.

Ian Roberts said TXA should be added to the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines.

 

1 clotting   

v.凝固( clot的现在分词 )；烧结

参考例句：

• The study was also based only on the one anti-clotting drug. 所用抗血栓药物也仅限于一种。 来自互联网
• A plasma protein that is converted into thrombin during blood clotting. 凝血原酶一种血浆蛋白质，在血液凝聚时转化成凝血''。'酵'。''''。'素'。''。 来自互联网

2 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

3 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

4 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

5 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。