经济学人170:替代医疗 往好处想

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Alternative medicine

　　替代医疗

　　Think yourself better

　　往好处想

　　Alternative medical treatments rarely work. But the placebo¹ effect they induce sometimes does

　　替代疗法的治疗效果见效甚微，但是所产生的安慰效果往往有所疗效

　　ON MAY 29th Edzard Ernst, the world's first professor of complementary medicine, will step down after 18 years in his post at the Peninsula Medical School, in south-west England.

　　5月29日，作为世界首位互补性医学专家艾德撒.恩斯特将从位于英国西北部的半岛医学院退休，他在这里曾效力了18年。

　　Despite his job title, Dr Ernst is no breathless promoter of snake oil.

　　跟他的职务头衔相反Dr Ernst 并不是那种推销起蛇油舌灿莲花的人。

　　Instead, he and his research group have pioneered the rigorous study of everything from acupuncture² and crystal healing to Reiki channelling and herbal remedies.

　　其实，他和他的研究团队是缜密研究针灸，水晶疗法，灵气疗法以及草药治疗的先驱。

　　Alternative medicine is big business.

　　替代性医疗是一个很大的商业市场。

　　Since it is largely unregulated, reliable statistics are hard to come by.

　　由于这一市场在很大程度上没有得到监管，所以很难获取可靠的数据统计。

　　The market in Britain alone, however, is believed to be worth around ￡210m, with one in five adults thought to be consumers,

　　然而，该市场仅在伦敦就达到约2亿1千万英镑，其中5个成年人中就有一个是替代性疗法的消费者，

　　and some treatments available from the National Health Service.

　　并且有些疗法还是国家医疗服务制度中所提供的服务项目。

　　Around the world, according to an estimate made in 2008, the industry's value is about $60 billion.

　　根据2008年的评估，该产业在全球的价值约为600亿美元。

　　Over the years Dr Ernst and his group have run clinical trials and published over 160 meta-analyses of other studies.

　　在过去的几年中，恩斯特博士和他的团队进行了临床实践并发表了160多份关于其他研究的再分化分析报告，并有了全然的发现。

　　His findings are stark⁴. According to his Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine, around 95% of the treatments he and his colleagues examined—in fields as diverse as acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy and reflexology—are statistically⁵ indistinguishable from placebo treatments.

　　根据其《补充替代医学指南》，在他及其同事所验证的治疗方法中从针灸到草药，从顺势疗法到反射疗法，约有95%在数据统计上等同于安慰疗法。

　　In only 5% of cases was there either a clear benefit above and beyond a placebo, or even just a hint that something interesting was happening to suggest that further research might be warranted.

　　在仅有的5%的病例中，其中要么明显属于非安慰疗法所带来的疗效，要么暗示了有某些有趣的因素使得需要进一步的研究。

　　It was, at times, a lonely experience.

　　这一研究在过去有时很少有人涉足。

　　Money was hard to come by.

　　资金难以筹集。

　　Practitioners⁶ of alternative medicine became increasingly reluctant to co-operate as the negative results piled up, while traditional medical-research bodies saw investigations⁷ into things like Ayurvedic healing as a waste of time.

　　并且由于负面效应的积累越来越多的替代性医疗从业者不愿意参与合作，于此同时传统医疗研究组织也将针诸如对阿育吠陀疗法的研究调查视作是浪费时间。

　　Yet Dr Ernst believes his work helps address a serious public-health problem.

　　而恩斯特博士相信他的工作将有助于解决一系列公共健康问题。

　　He points out that conventional medicines must be shown to be both safe and efficacious before they can be licensed⁸ for sale.

　　他指出传统药品必须在确保安全和有效后才能许可出售。

　　That is rarely true of alternative treatments, which rely on a mixture of appeals to tradition and to the natural wholesomeness⁹ of their products to reassure¹⁰ consumers.

　　但是替代性疗法却不需要，这些疗法依赖于其产品的传统性以及天然健康性的综合体来赢得消费者的放心。

　　That explains why, for instance, some homeopaths can market treatments for malaria¹¹, despite a lack of evidence to suggest that such treatments work, or why some chiropractors can claim to cure infertility¹².

　　这解释了为什么一些顺势疗法在疟疾的治疗上具有市场，尽管缺乏证据显示其疗效效，以及为什么脊椎推拿师声称他们可以治疗不育症的原因。

　　Despite this lack of evidence, and despite the possibility that some alternative practitioners may be harming their patients, Dr Ernst also believes there is something that conventional doctors can usefully learn from the chiropractors, homeopaths and Ascended¹³ Masters.

　　虽然缺乏医疗证据以及存在一些替代性疗法从业者伤害患者的可能，但是恩斯特博士相信传统医生仍然可以从脊椎推拿师，顺势疗法以及上师那里学到一些有用的东西。

　　This is the therapeutic¹⁴ value of the placebo effect, one of the strangest and slipperiest phenomena¹⁵ in medicine.

　　作为医学中最奇怪以及最棘手的医疗现象之一，这些东西是安慰疗法的医疗价值所在。

　　Mind and body

　　思想与身体

　　A placebo is a sham¹⁶ medical treatment—a pharmacologically inert¹⁷ sugar pill, perhaps, or a piece of pretend surgery.

　　安慰疗法是一种虚假性医疗方法在药物上使用糖丸，或者进行一次虚假手术。

　　Its main scientific use at the moment is in clinical trials as a baseline for comparison with another treatment.

　　其主要科学应用在于它可以作为其他疗法对比基准的临床实践性。

　　But just because the medicine is not real does not mean it doesn't work.

　　但是不使用真实药物并不代表没有疗效。

　　That is precisely¹⁸ the point of using it in trials: researchers have known for years that comparing treatment against no treatment at all will give a misleading result.

　　这也恰恰是在实践中使用它们的原因：研究者多年以来已经明白将完全不治疗跟某种治疗法做比较往往会产生误导的结果。

　　Giving pretend painkillers¹⁹, for instance, can reduce the amount of pain a patient experiences.

　　比如，假的止疼药可以在一定程度上缓解患者的疼痛。

　　A study carried out in 2002 suggested that fake surgery for arthritis²⁰ in the knee provides similar benefits to the real thing.

　　2002年进行的一次研究显示针对膝部关节炎患者进行一次虚假手术所带来的疗效如同对其进行了一次真实的手术。

　　And the effects can be harmful as well as helpful.

　　并且产生的效果有好有坏。

　　Patients taking fake opiates after having been prescribed the real thing may experience the shallow breathing that is a side-effect of the real drugs.

　　而处方规定需服用鸦片制剂的患者实则服用了假的鸦片制剂后会出现呼吸短促这种真实药物所带来的副作用症状。

　　Besides being benchmarks, placebos²¹ are a topic of research in their own right.

　　除了作为基准，安慰疗法在其自身领域内也是一个研究主题。

　　On May 16th the Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific academy, published a volume of its Philosophical²² Transactions devoted²³ to the field.

　　5月16日，作为世界最悠久的科学研究组织，皇家学会发表了一期此领域的《哲学会报》。

　　One conclusion emerging from the research, says Irving Kirsch, a professor at Harvard Medical School who wrote the preface to the volume,

　　为该会报撰写前言的是来自哈佛医学院的专家欧文.克尔斯，

　　is that the effect is strongest for those disorders²⁴ that are predominantly mental and subjective²⁵, a conclusion backed by a meta-analysis of placebo studies that was carried out in 2010 by researchers at the Cochrane Collaboration²⁶,

　　其称这些研究所得出的一个结论是安慰疗法对于那些主要是脑力和主观紊乱的患者最为有效，这一结论同样得到另一个安慰疗法再分化研究的支持，

　　an organisation²⁷ that reviews evidence for medical treatments.

　　该项研究由医疗证据审核组织科克仑合作所的研究者们在2010年开展。

　　In the case of depression, says Dr Kirsch, giving patients placebo pills can produce very nearly the same effect as dosing them with the latest antidepressant medicines.

　　对于抑郁症病例，克尔斯称给患者服用安慰性药物将产生和给患者服用最新抗抑郁症药物同样的疗效。

　　Pain is another nerve-related symptom susceptible²⁸ to treatment by placebo.

　　疼痛是另一种容易得到安慰性治疗的神经性症状。

　　Here, patients' expectations influence the potency²⁹ of the effect.

　　在这里，患者的期望值可以影响治疗的效果。

　　Telling someone that you are giving him morphine provides more pain relief than saying you are dosing him with aspirin—even when both pills actually contain nothing more than sugar.

　　告诉患者你给他们服用的是吗啡要比告诉他们服用的是阿司匹林具有更好的阵痛效果其实两种药物的成分都只是糖。

　　Neuro-imaging shows that this deception³⁰ stimulates³¹ the production of naturally occurring painkilling³² chemicals in the brain.

　　神经元成像显示这种欺骗行为可以促进大脑中自然分泌的阵痛化学物质的产生。

　　A paper in Philosophical Transactions by Karin Meissner of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich concludes that placebo treatments are also able to affect the autonomic nervous system, which controls unconscious functions such as heartbeat, blood pressure, digestion³³ and the like.

　　来自路德维希马克西米利安慕尼黑大学的卡琳.梅斯诺在《哲学会报》上发表的一份论文称安慰疗法同样可以影响控制诸如心跳，血压，消化等等这些无意识功能的自主神经系统。

　　Drama is important, too. Placebo injections are more effective than placebo pills, and neither is as potent³⁴ as sham surgery.

　　表演在安慰疗法中也很重要。安慰性注射虽然比安慰药丸有效果，但是却没有虚假手术来得见效。

　　And the more positive a doctor is when telling a patient about the placebo he is prescribing, the more likely it is to do that patient good.

　　并且在向患者描述疗效的时候，医生显得越积极，对于患者来说安慰治疗的疗效越好。

　　Despite the power of placebos, many conventional doctors are leery of prescribing them.

　　尽管安慰疗法有着强大的力量，但是很多常规医生仍怀有猜疑。

　　They worry that to do so is to deceive their patients.

　　他们担心这种做法是在欺骗患者。

　　Yet perhaps the most fascinating results in placebo research—most recently examined by Ted³ Kaptchuk and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School, in the context of irritable-bowel syndrome—is that the effect may persist even if patients are told that they are getting placebo treatments.

　　然而，也许在安慰治疗研究中最引人入胜的研究结果便是即使患者之道他们所接受的是安慰治疗，其疗效却依然存在，这一发现由来自哈佛医学院的泰德.凯普扎克及其同事近期在过敏性肠综合症的研究中所确认。

　　Unlike their conventional counterparts, practitioners of alternative medicine often excel at harnessing the placebo effect, says Dr Ernst.

　　恩斯特博士称与常规医生不同，替代性疗法的从业者善于利用安慰治疗的疗效。

　　They offer long, relaxed consultations³⁵ with their customers.

　　他们会在轻松的气氛下向患者提供咨询。

　　And they believe passionately³⁶ in their treatments, which are often delivered with great and reassuring³⁷ ceremony.

　　并且他们对于治疗工作充满热情，使用杰出而令人放心的医疗方式进行治疗。

　　That alone can be enough to do good, even though the magnets, crystals and ultra-dilute solutions applied³⁸ to the patients are, by themselves, completely useless.

　　仅此已足够，而那些用在患者身上的磁铁，水晶以及高稀释溶液本身就没有什么用处。

　　1.alternative a.两者择一的；供选择的

　　We have the alternative plans of having a picnic or taking a boat trip.

　　我们在去野餐或者去乘船旅游两个计划中只能选一。

　　2.placebo n.安慰剂；安慰话

　　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。

　　3.complementary a.补充的；互补的

　　His personality is complementary to hers.

　　他的个性与她的相反相成。

　　4.rigorous a.严格的；严厉的

　　The planes have to undergo rigorous safety checks.

　　这些飞机得接受非常严格的安全检查。

　　5.crystal n.水晶；结晶体

　　I lost my crystal necklace at the party.

　　我在晚会上丢失了水晶项链。

1 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。

2 acupuncture   

n.针灸，针刺法，针疗法

参考例句：

• Written records show that acupuncture dates back to the Song Dynasty.文字记载表明，宋朝就已经有了针灸。
• It's known that acupuncture originated in China.众所周知，针灸起源于中国。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

6 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

9 wholesomeness   

卫生性

参考例句：

10 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

11 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。

12 infertility   

n.不肥沃，不毛；不育

参考例句：

• It is the Geneva, Switzerland-based Biotech Company's second recombinant infertility drug. 它是瑞士生物技术公司在日内瓦的公司生产的第二种重组治疗不孕症的药。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术制药疫苗
• Endometritis is a cause of infertility. 子宫内膜炎是不育的原子。 来自辞典例句

13 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

15 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

16 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

17 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

18 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

19 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

20 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。

21 placebos   

n.（给无实际治疗需要者的）安慰剂( placebo的名词复数 )；安慰物；宽心话；（试验药物用的）无效对照剂

参考例句：

• But, eventually, I think they were just kind of like placebos. 但是后来，我想它们只是安慰剂（安慰剂：没有任何药效的药） 来自电影对白
• But comparable numbers of those who received placebos also improved. 但是吃安慰剂的人的病情也改善了。 来自互联网

22 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

23 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

24 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

26 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

27 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

28 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

29 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。

30 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

31 stimulates   

v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用

参考例句：

• Exercise stimulates the body. 运动促进身体健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Alcohol stimulates the action of the heart. 酒刺激心脏的活动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

32 painkilling   

[医]止痛的

参考例句：

• Painkilling drugs were not enough to relieve her suffering. 止痛药不能缓解她的痛苦。 来自互联网
• The effect of the painkilling drug didn't wear off for several hours. 止痛药的药效好几个锺头之仍未消失。 来自互联网

33 digestion   

n.消化，吸收

参考例句：

• This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
• This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。

34 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

35 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

36 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

37 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

38 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。