VOA慢速英语20061011a

HEALTH REPORT - British Health Researchers Surprised by Their Findings on Schizophrenia MedicineBy Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 11, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.




Researchers say newer drugs used to treat the brain disorder² schizophrenia are no better than those that have been used for many years. Schizophrenia can cause people to hear and see things that are not real. It can cause people to believe others want to harm them. It can cause fearfulness, withdrawal³ and extreme nervousness.

The results of the British study surprised the researchers. They re-examined their work for possible recording⁴ mistakes.

The National Health Service in Britain paid for the study. The findings were published in the Archives of General Psychiatry⁵.

The British health officials wanted to learn if drugs developed in the nineteen nineties to treat schizophrenia were worth their higher cost. The newer drugs can cost ten times as much as those developed in the nineteen fifties. The newer drugs are thought to reduce unwanted side effects. Older drugs have been criticized for sometimes causing uncontrollable muscle movements among other side effects.

Peter Jones of the University of Cambridge in England led the study. It involved two hundred twenty-seven schizophrenia patients from eighteen to sixty-five years old. They were divided into two groups. Members of one group were treated with modern drugs. The others were given older drugs. The patients were not told which drugs they were given.

Experts examined the patients before the testing began and three times during one year. The experts did not know which drug the patients were receiving. The experts rated the quality of life for each patient. The researchers said they expected patients taking the newer drugs to have scores five points higher than the others. But, they found that the group given the older drugs had higher quality of life scores, although the difference was very small.

The researchers say more testing must be done. A company that makes one of the newer drugs questioned the findings.

In the United States, the National Institute of Mental Health recently announced a new study about giving antipsychotic drugs to people with schizophrenia. The study will compare the traditional method of daily pills with injections of long-lasting drugs every two weeks.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. You can download transcripts⁶ and archives of our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句