美国国家公共电台 NPR Wider Use Of Osteoporosis Drug Could Prevent Bone Fractures In More Elderly Women

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

A drug commonly used to treat the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis could protect many more older women against bone fractures. That's according to a big new study published today by the New England Journal of Medicine. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein has the details.

ROB STEIN, BYLINE¹: As we age, our bones tend to get thinner and thinner. And Ian Reid, of the University of Auckland, says millions of older people break a hip², a spine³ or some other bone. And it's often the beginning of the end.

IAN REID: In a frail⁴ older person, having a fracture can be the final straw that interferes⁵ with them being able to live independently and moves them into an institution.

STEIN: And the problem's just getting worse.

REID: What's happening at the present time is we are all living longer. Our population is progressively aging. And so fractures in older people is becoming a very major issue.

STEIN: People diagnosed with the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis can take drugs to prevent fractures. But there's been a big debate about people with less frail bones.

REID: In fact, most of the fractures that occur in older people occur in the much larger number of people who have moderate bone loss.

STEIN: So Reid and his colleagues tested a drug long used to treat osteoporosis on 2,000 women 65 and older with just the early stages of bone loss, a condition known as osteopenia. For six years, half got infusions⁶ of the drug. Half got a placebo⁷.

REID: We saw about a one-third reduction in total numbers of fractures and about a 50 percent reduction in spine fractures.

STEIN: And no sign of any serious side effects - in fact, the women getting the drug were less likely to suffer heart attacks, get cancer, maybe even die.

REID: So I think what this means is that we can broaden the group of people to whom we can offer these medications. And therefore, we can reduce the total number of fractures occurring across the community more effectively.

STEIN: Other experts agree.

ETHEL SIRIS: This is an extremely important paper.

STEIN: That's Ethel Siris at Columbia.

SIRIS: The reason this is so important is that we have been uncertain what to do with the great number of people, primarily women over the age of 60-65, who have osteopenia. You now know you have a drug that you can use that has been shown to work in such patients. It's a big deal.

STEIN: A lot of doctors and patients got scared away from these drugs because of reports they could actually cause hip fractures and unusual jaw⁸ problems. But Michael Econs, of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, says the new results should make people rethink that.

MICHAEL ECONS: We are overly worried about exceedingly rare side effects and under worried about common things like fractures. I think you have to start looking at where the big picture is.

STEIN: But others are more cautious.

ROBERT MCLEAN: This one study is helpful. And it's suggestive. But one study, in and of itself, does not necessarily mean truth.

STEIN: That's Robert McLean from Yale. He's president-elect of the American College of Physicians.

MCLEAN: We're not going to reconvene and immediately change the guidelines.

STEIN: But everyone agrees that older people should talk with their doctors about the new study to see if taking a drug to cut the risk of breaking a bone makes sense for them or not. Rob Stein, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF DJ FORMAT'S "TURNING POINT")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

3 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

4 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

5 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

6 infusions   

n.沏或泡成的浸液（如茶等）( infusion的名词复数 )；注入，注入物

参考例句：

• Intravenous infusions are also used to administer medications. 静脉输液也可作为一种给药方法。 来自辞典例句
• INTERPRETATION: GKI infusions significantly reduced plasma glucose concentrations and blood pressure. 结论：静脉滴注GKI显著降低血压和血糖浓度。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。