VOA慢速英语 2008 1126a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Anesthesia is used during operations and other medical procedures to block pain signals from traveling through the nervous system. The kind of anesthesia that patients receive depends on their condition and the kind of procedure they need.

Local anesthesia is used to make a small area of the body lose feeling. Usually, local anesthesia is for minor¹ procedures, like fixing a tooth or closing a wound. The person remains² fully³ awake.

Regional anesthesia is used to block pain in a large area of the body. For example, when a woman is giving birth, she might request an epidural anesthesia. It is injected into the fluid in the spine⁴. It acts on the lower half of the body.
　
A patient in Honduras is placed under general anesthesia for an operation on his hand

General anesthesia makes a person fall asleep. This is known as being "put under." The drugs are injected into the blood or breathed as gas. General anesthesia also blocks memory.

People are not supposed to remember an operation when they wake up. In rare cases, they do. The Mayo Clinic says patients may have a sense of their surroundings during about one-fifth of one percent of all operations. It says they generally do not feel pain, but may wish to talk to a mental health provider if the memories trouble them.

An anesthesiologist is a doctor specially⁵ trained to give anesthesia. During an operation, the anesthesiologist will observe the patient's heart rate, blood pressure and amount of oxygen in the blood. A breathing tube may be put into the person's windpipe. The tube is connected to a respirator machine.

There are, of course, risks to anesthesia. People can have different reactions to the drugs. Mistakes can happen. But medical experts say the safety of anesthesia has greatly improved.

The Mayo Clinic says not too long ago, one in ten thousand cases resulted in death. Now, it says, the number is one in two hundred fifty thousand.

The experts say everyone's experience with anesthesia is different. To reduce the risks, the Mayo Clinic says open communication is important among the patient and the doctors before an operation.

Patients can expect questions like: What is your current health? What medications do you take? Do you smoke or drink alcohol? Do you know if you have any allergies⁶ to foods or medicines? And what experiences have you had in the past with anesthesia?

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Jill Moss⁷. Our reports are online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty⁸.

 

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 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。

5 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

6 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

7 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

8 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。