VOA慢速英语20061205b

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Tension, Migraine and Cluster: Getting to the Root of a HeadacheBy Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Tuesday, December 05, 2006

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Today we tell about headaches, the head pain that strikes almost everyone at some time.

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VOICE ONE:


On SCIENCE IN THE NEWS: A guide to headaches

Do you ever get a headache? If your answer is yes, you are among thousands of millions of people worldwide who develop the condition. The National Headache Foundation says more than forty five million Americans suffer chronic¹ headaches. At first, they experience severe pain in the head. The pain goes away, but returns later.

The most common headache is a tension headache. Millions of people have a more painful headache, called a migraine. By comparison, not many people develop cluster headaches. The severity of cluster headaches usually requires treatment.

VOICE TWO:

The National Headache Foundation says about one-tenth of all Americans suffer from migraines. About seventy percent are women. Some people experience this kind of pain as often as two weeks every month. Some describe the pain as similar to a repeated beat like a heartbeat. Others say it is like someone driving a sharp object into the head.

In addition to the suffering, there are economic results. Migraines cause Americans to miss more than one hundred fifty million workdays each year. A migraine can be mild. But it also can be so severe that a person cannot live a normal life.

VOICE ONE:

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, provides information about migraines and other headaches. The Mayo Clinic says several foods are suspected of causing migraines. They include aged² cheese and alcoholic³ drinks. Food additives⁴ like nitrates and monosodium glutamate also are suspected causes.

So is caffeine, the substance in coffee that makes people feel more energetic. Interestingly, doctors sometimes use caffeine to treat migraine headaches.

VOICE TWO:

If you are developing a migraine headache, you may feel sick. You may feel very tired, hot or cold. You even may temporarily lose your sight.

Some people take medicine every day to prevent or ease migraines. Others use medicine to control pain that has already developed. Doctors treating migraine sufferers often order medicines from a group of drugs known as triptans.

Most migraines react at least partly to existing medicine. Most people can use existing medicine without experiencing bad effects.

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VOICE ONE:

Some people continue to suffer with migraines, although they may try different medicines. But the future may be better for these people. Two kinds of devices are being tested on patients. Both are based on the idea that electricity may stop or control migraine headaches. But experts say more testing is needed.

One experimental treatment is called occipital nerve stimulation⁵, or O.N.S. It involves placing electrical devices under the skin in the back of the head. Lead lines placed in the lower back send electrical signals to the patient's occipital nerves. Shocks sent through the lines are thought to block pain signals from the nerves.

VOICE TWO:

The United States Food and Drug Administration approved testing of O.N.S. at seven medical centers. Six are in the United States. The other is in Britain.

One of the centers is the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The Arizona center is an extension of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. In April, researchers at the Arizona center reported on their testing. They presented their findings at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. The researchers said the treatment appeared safe and effective.

VOICE ONE:

Another possible treatment is called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or T.M.S. It is meant only for patients whose migraines begin with an aura. They may see objects like bright stars and flashing lights. The goal is to stop the migraine before it takes hold.

VOICE TWO:

In T.M.S., a magnetic device is pressed against the back of the head. The device produces signals. They are thought to interfere⁶ with the brain activity that causes the pain. Hundreds of people are taking part in tests of the device.

Doctor Yousef Mohammad works at the Ohio State University Medical Center. His team performed a small study during two thousand four and two thousand five. The results showed that most patients treated with the device had no headaches two hours after its use. Or their headache pain was less severe.

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VOICE ONE:

Many more people suffer tension headaches than migraine headaches. But most tension headaches are not as powerful.

Triggers are events or actions that can start a headache. Tension headache triggers may include emotional pressure and the deeper than normal sadness called depression. Other tension headaches start from something as tiredness or common changes in atmospheric⁷ conditions.

The Mayo Clinic says you may feel a tension headache as tightness in the part of your face over your eyes. Or, you may feel pressure around your head. Episodic tension headaches strike from time to time. Chronic tension headaches happen more often. A tension headache can last from a half hour to a whole week.

VOICE TWO:

The Mayo Clinic says the pain may come very early in the day. Other signs can include pain in the neck or the lower part of the head. Scientists are not sure what causes tension headaches. For years, researchers blamed muscle tension from contractions⁸ in the face, neck and the skin on top of the head. They believed emotional tension caused these tightening⁹ movements.

But a test called an electromyogram has shown that muscle tension does not increase in people with a tension headache. The test records electrical currents caused by muscle activity.

Some scientists now believe that tension headaches may result from changes among brain chemicals such as serotonin. The changes may start sending pain messages to the brain. These changes may interfere with brain activity that suppresses pain.

VOICE ONE:

Medicines for tension headache can be as simple as a painkiller¹⁰ like aspirin¹¹ or similar medicines. But if your pain is too severe, you will need a doctor's advice.

VOICE TWO:

A Web site called familydoctor.org provides information from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The group suggests steps to ease or end a tension headache.

VOICE ONE:

For example, it says putting heat or ice on your head or neck can help. So can standing¹² under hot water while you are getting washed. The group also advises exercising often. Another idea is taking a holiday from work. But you had better ask your employer first.

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Ask anyone with a cluster headache, and they will tell you that the pain is terrible. The Cleveland Clinic Headache Center in Ohio says the cluster headache can be many times more intense than a migraine. The pain of a cluster headache has sometimes been known to cause people to kill themselves.

Cluster headaches usually strike young people. Smokers¹³ and persons who drink alcohol often get these headaches. Men are about six times more likely than women to have them. The Cleveland Clinic says this is especially true of younger men. Doctors say cluster headaches often strike during changes of season.

VOICE ONE:

Cluster headache patients describe the pain as burning or piercing. The pain is almost always felt on one side of the face. It can last for up to ninety minutes. Then it stops. But it often starts again later the same day. Eighty to ninety percent of cluster headache patients have pain over a number of days to a whole year. Pain-free periods separate these periods.

The Cleveland Clinic says the cause of cluster headaches is in a brain area known as a trigeminal-autonomic reflex pathway. When the nerve is made active, it starts pain linked to cluster headaches. The nerve starts a process that makes one eye watery¹⁴ and red.

Research has shown that activation¹⁵ of the trigeminal nerve may come from a deeper part of the brain called the hypothalamus.

VOICE TWO:

The Cleveland Clinic says injections of the drug sumatriptan can help. Many other drugs also could be used. For example, doctors say breathing oxygen can help. Thankfully, modern medicine has ways to treat almost all of our pains in the head.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

4 additives   

n.添加剂( additive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• chemical additives in petrol 汽油中的化学添加剂
• It'says on the packet that these crisps contain no additives. 包装上说这些炸薯片不含添加剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

6 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

7 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

8 contractions   

n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩

参考例句：

• Contractions are much more common in speech than in writing. 缩略词在口语里比在书写中常见得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Muscle contractions are powered by the chemical adenosine triphosphate(ATP ). 肌肉收缩是由化学物质三磷酸腺苷(ATP)提供动力的。 来自辞典例句

9 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

10 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

11 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

14 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

15 activation   

n. 激活，催化作用

参考例句：

• A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。