VOA慢速英语2019 苹果手表研究报告称成功识别心脏问题（在线收听）

Apple Watch Study Reports Success Identifying Heart Problem

A new study suggests the Apple Watch was able to identify abnormal heart rates that could be linked to a serious heart condition.

一项新研究显示，苹果手表能识别出可能与严重心脏问题有关的心律失常。

More than 400,000 Apple Watch users volunteered for the study. It was a project of researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

超过40万名苹果手表用户自愿参与了这项研究。该研究是斯坦福大学医学院研究人员的一个研究项目。

Apple, the American technology company, provided money for the study. Results were recently presented at a major conference on heart health in New Orleans, Louisiana.

美国科技公司苹果为这项研究提供资金。研究结果于近期在路易斯安那州新奥尔良举行的心脏健康大会上公布。

The researchers looked for signs of atrial fibrillation, the most common form of irregular heartbeat. The condition, also called “a-fib,” results from the abnormal firing of electrical signals in the upper chambers of the heart.

研究人员对心房颤动迹象进行了观察，房颤是心律不齐的最常见形式。这一症状简称为房颤，是心脏上部腔室电信号发射异常导致的结果。

Some people with atrial fibrillation feel changes in their heartbeat, while others do not. Because of this, many people do not know they have the condition.

有些房颤患者能感觉到心跳的变化，有些则不能。因此，许多人不知道他们患有房颤。

People with untreated a-fib are about five times more likely to suffer a stroke. In the United States, a-fib causes an estimated 130,000 deaths and 750,000 hospitalizations each year.

对未接受过治疗的房颤患者来说，其中风的几率比其他人高出5倍。每年在美国，房颤导致13万人死亡，75万人住院

People taking part in the study wore the Apple Watch for extended periods during 2017 and 2018. The devices contain an app that continuously gathers information without users having to do anything. It uses the watch’s light sensor technology to measure blood flow. The system is designed to identify changes that might show an irregular heartbeat.

研究参与者在2017至2018年长时间佩戴苹果手表。该设备包含一个应用程序，可以持续收集信息，而用户无需做任何事。它利用手表的光传感技术测量血流。这个系统旨在识别可能与心律失常有关的变化。

The researchers said that out of those taking part, about 2,000 subjects received a warning from the device that they might have a problem.

研究人员表示，在参与者中，约2000人收到了他们可能有心脏问题的警告。

Those individuals were then asked to contact a doctor, who decided whether they should receive a patch to more closely watch for a possible irregular heartbeat. The patch uses electrocardiography, or ECG technology. Electrocardiography is the process of measuring and recording electrical signals in the heart.

这些人随后要联系医生，医生会确定他们是否应该因潜在的心律不齐问题而佩戴贴片，以进一步观察。该贴片使用心电图（简称ECG）技术。心电图用来测量并记录心脏的电信号。

The study found that about 84 percent of the time, those who received warnings of irregular heartbeat activity were found to be experiencing a-fib at the time. Of those who received warnings and followed up by using an ECG patch, one third were found later to have a-fib.

这项研究发现，84%的受试者在接到心律不齐警告时发现房颤。而在收到心律不齐警告、随后使用心电图贴片进行随访的受试者中，有三分之一的人检测到患有房颤。

Overall, about 57 percent of those taking part in the study sought some kind of medical attention, researchers said.

研究人员表示，总体来说，约57%的参与者会寻求某种医疗检查。

Lloyd Minor is head of Stanford’s School of Medicine. In a statement, he said the results show great promise in using technology to create “more predictive and preventive health care.”

罗伊德·米诺是斯坦福大学医学院院长。他在声明中表示，研究结果显示，利用科技来创造“预测性和预防性更好的医疗服务”拥有美好的前景。

Doctor Minor added that a-fib is just one example of a condition devices can help identify in the future. “This study opens the door to further research into wearable technologies and how they might be used to prevent disease before it strikes,” he said.

米诺医生还表示，房颤只是这些设备在未来可以帮助识别的其中一种疾病。他说，“这项研究为进一步研究可穿戴技术及其如何用于预防疾病打开了大门。”

But some health researchers warned against making any general judgements based on the Apple-financed study. They have called for much more research to measure the effectiveness of wearable devices to identify signs of disease.

但是一些卫生研究员警告称，不要基于苹果公司赞助的研究做出任何普遍性判断。他们呼吁开展更多研究，对可穿戴设备识别疾病症状的效果进行评估。

Richard Kovacs is with the American College of Cardiology. He was not involved with the study. Doctor Kovacs told the Associated Press that despite the results, the Apple Watch system “is not perfect.” He noted that since the study did not have a comparison group getting regular ECG measurements, there is no way of knowing if the device missed heartbeat problems. This could give users a false sense of security, he said.

理查德·科瓦奇来自美国心脏病学会。他并未参与这项研究。科瓦奇医生对美联社表示，不论研究结果如何，苹果手表系统“并不完美”。他指出，研究并未让对照组接受常规心电图测试，所以无法知道该设备是否有错过的心跳问题。他说，这可能使用户对安全产生错觉。

Other experts agreed that more studies are needed before similar device-based health observation systems are widely recommended.

其他专家也认为，在以健康观察系统为基础的类似设备得到广泛应用之前，需要进行更多研究。

“I would not advise this to the overall general population,” said Valentin Fuster, director of New York’s Mount Sinai Heart system and a former American Heart Association president. He said he would rather see such systems tested in people with additional health risks, such as older adults with high blood pressure.

瓦伦汀·弗斯特是纽约西奈山医疗系统负责人，他还曾担任过美国心脏协会主席，他说，“我不建议将这种设备应用于一般人群。”他说他更希望看到这类系统在面临其他健康威胁的人群中进行测试，比如患有高血压的老年人。

Words in This Story

abnormal – adj. unusual or uncommon

chamber – n. a part of something used for a particular purpose

app – n. program for a smartphone or other device that performs a special function

patch – n. small device worn on the skin to monitor body conditions or deliver medicine

recommend – v. to suggest or propose