VOA慢速英语20060111a

HEALTH REPORT - What Happens in a Stroke? Experts Liken It to a 'Brain Attack'By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, January 11, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Everyone has heard of a heart attack. But what about a brain attack? Some medical experts say that is one way to think of a stroke.


A false-color image of a brain affected¹ by a stroke.

On December eighteenth, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a minor² stroke. Then, last Wednesday, the seventy-seven-year-old leader had a severe stroke with bleeding in the brain.

There are two major kinds of strokes. The more common is an ischemic stroke. A blood clot³ blocks or restricts the flow of blood to the brain. Brain cells begin to die.

About ninety percent of strokes are the ischemic kind. Hemorrhagic strokes are more serious. A blood vessel⁴ in the brain bursts. There is bleeding into or around the brain.

Mister Sharon had to have operations to stop the bleeding. Doctors also took another step to ease the pressure on his brain. They gave him drugs to create what is known as a medically induced coma⁵. Then, on Monday, they began to wake him.

Doctors reported signs of improvement in his condition. But it was too soon to measure possible brain damage.

Each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body. In most people, the left side of the brain controls speech and language. Experts say a stroke on the right side, like Mister Sharon had, often causes some loss of movement.

Strokes can result in temporary or permanent disability.

Common warning signs of a stroke are sudden numbness⁶ or weakness in the face, arm or leg. Others signs include trouble speaking or understanding, loss of balance or a sudden, severe headache. Last Wednesday Mister Sharon felt some pain in his chest and weakness.

Overweight people are at greater risk of a stroke. Other risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes⁷ and high cholesterol⁸ levels in the blood.

Strokes are the third leading cause of death in the United States, Canada and Japan, after heart disease and cancer.

There are drugs designed to target the effects of a stroke while it is happening. After an ischemic stroke, doctors may give blood thinners, as in the case of Mister Sharon in December. Experts say the possible risk, however, is a greater chance of a bleeding stroke.

In any case, doctors say it is important to seek treatment for a stroke right away.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Our reports can be found on the Internet at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 clot   

n.凝块；v.使凝成块

参考例句：

• Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
• The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。

4 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

5 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

6 numbness   

n.无感觉，麻木，惊呆

参考例句：

• She was fighting off the numbness of frostbite. 她在竭力摆脱冻僵的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes they stay dead, causing' only numbness. 有时，它们没有任何反应，只会造成麻木。 来自时文部分

7 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

8 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。