VOA慢速英语 2008 0312a

Health Report - Report Points to Limits of Some Antidepressants
Researchers say unpublished studies show Prozac and three similar drugs have significant results only in the most severely¹ depressed².
12 March 2008

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A study has raised new questions about the effectiveness of several popular drugs for depression. These antidepressants are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
　

A bottle of Prozac

S.S.R.I.s are designed to help keep serotonin, a brain chemical, at a continuous level. The new study suggests that they provide little help to the large majority of the millions who take them.

Scientists from Britain, Canada and the United States did the study. It was a meta-analysis, a study of studies.

The team used an American law, the Freedom of Information Act, to get unpublished reports on thirty-five clinical trials of four drugs. Drug companies gave these and published studies to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of the medicines.

In the clinical trials, people with depression were treated with either an antidepressant or a placebo³, a pill that contains no medicine. They did not know which they got.

The new report says those who received medicine did improve. But comparable numbers of those who received placebos⁴ also improved. The report says the drugs had meaningful results only in the most severely depressed patients.

The two best-known drugs in the study were fluoxetine, better known as Prozac, and paroxetine, sold in the United States under the name Paxil. The other drugs were venlafaxine and nefazodone.

The Public Library of Science published the findings last month in the journal PLoS Medicine.

Benedetto Vitiello is a psychiatrist⁵ at the United States National Institute of Mental Health. Doctor Vitiello, who was not involved in the study, says the findings came as no great surprise. He says psychiatrists⁶ have known for years that S.S.R.I.s work best in the sickest patients.

But he says it is important for people who need help not to delay seeking help as a result of the new report.

Critics of the report say S.S.R.I.s can take more time to begin working than the studies permitted. They also note that doctors sometimes try several antidepressants on a patient before choosing one for treatment.

Future antidepressants might have targets other than serotonin. Scientists funded by the National Institute of Mental Health have found that an enzyme⁷ called GSK3B might play a big part in depression. They found that mice with low serotonin levels and signs of depression improved when the enzyme was blocked.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁸. I’m Mario Ritter.

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

4 placebos   

n.（给无实际治疗需要者的）安慰剂( placebo的名词复数 )；安慰物；宽心话；（试验药物用的）无效对照剂

参考例句：

• But, eventually, I think they were just kind of like placebos. 但是后来，我想它们只是安慰剂（安慰剂：没有任何药效的药） 来自电影对白
• But comparable numbers of those who received placebos also improved. 但是吃安慰剂的人的病情也改善了。 来自互联网

5 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

6 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

7 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

8 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。