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VOA慢速英语2012 SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Medical Experts Debate Value of Alcohol Use

时间:2012-11-05 02:07来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Medical Experts Debate Value of Alcohol Use

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

And I’m Bob Doughty1.

Drinking alcohol is socially acceptable behavior in many parts of the world. Some medical experts say light drinking may be good for your health, especially for the heart. But they say these health benefits should be compared to the many health risks linked to alcohol use.

Today we report on some of the issues involving alcohol. And we tell about findings that may help people who have grown dependent on alcohol. 

Millions of people around the world have a glass of wine with dinner, drink a beer at a sporting event, or accept alcoholic2 drinks at a party.

The use of alcohol dates back more than ten thousand years. From then until now, alcohol has played an important part in human civilization. It is used in cultural and religious ceremonies, at social gatherings3, and even for medical purposes.

Records of alcohol’s effects date back to ancient times. Alcohol has been called both a tonic4 and a poison. And medical experts continue to debate its value.

Alcohol is created through a process called fermentation. During this process, yeast5 is used to turn sugar into a simple molecule6 – ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol. Different kinds of sugar are used to make different alcoholic drinks. For example, the sugar from grapes is used to make wine. Sugar from grain is used to produce vodka and gin. And sugar from sugarcane or molasses can produce rum.

Alcohol affects every organ in the body. When alcohol enters the body, some of it goes immediately to the stomach and the bloodstream. The rest of it, about eighty percent, goes to the small intestine8 and is released into the bloodstream. Once alcohol enters the blood, it is pumped throughout the body by the heart.

The liver is responsible for detoxifying the alcohol and removing it from the blood. But, the liver can only process a small amount of alcohol at a time. The rest continues to move throughout the body. It mixes with the water in bodily tissue. It also enters the central nervous system and the brain. Ethanol acts as a drug, affecting emotions, coordination9 and thinking ability.

There has been a large amount of research done on alcohol and its effects on human health. Much of the research has examined the harmful effects. But, some research suggests that having one to two drinks of alcohol a day may offer some health benefits.

Several large studies have shown that this type of moderate drinking may lower the risk of coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, ischemic stroke and diabetes10. Moderate drinking has also been linked to a reduced risk of death from heart attack and a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

A study earlier this year suggested that drinking small amounts of red wine may help lower the risk of breast cancer in women.

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California studied thirty six women. Each woman drank a glass of red or white wine every day for almost a month. Researchers collected blood samples from the women two times a month to measure their hormone11 levels.

The next month the women who drank red wine were told to drink white wine instead. The white wine drinkers were told to drink red wine. The researchers found that the women who drank red wine had lower levels of the female hormone estrogen than the white wine drinkers. Estrogen levels are known to increase the growth of cancer cells in the body.

Glenn Braunstein helped to prepare a report on the study. He said red grapes have chemicals that are not found in white grapes. He said the study suggests that these chemicals may help to lower the risk of breast cancer.

The report was published in the Journal of Women’s Health. Both Dr. Braunstein and study organizer Chrisandra Shufelt called for larger studies to measure the safety and effectiveness of red wine in reducing breast cancer risk. They said other recent studies suggested that even small amounts of alcohol may generally increase the risk of breast cancer in women.

Researchers at Harvard University carried out one such study. It found that women who drink four small glasses of wine a week increase their risk of breast cancer by fifteen percent.

Many other studies have examined the harmful effects of alcohol use on the body. Medical experts say the deciding issues are how much alcohol you drink, and how you drink it. For example, experts say having three drinks in one day is not the same as having one drink a day for three days.

Alicia Ann Kowalchuk is medical director of an alcohol and drug intervention12 program called InSight, at the Harris County Hospital District of Houston, Texas. She is also an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine.

“We think of substance use issues along a continuum now, going all the way from abstinence, to healthy use, to misuse13, to abuse and to dependency. Healthy use for adults -- that’s men under age sixty-five -- is no more than four drinks in a day and no more than fourteen drinks in a week. And for women of all ages, it’s no more than seven drinks in a week and no more than three drinks on a day.”

Dr. Kowalchuk says that to get the health benefits linked to alcohol, men and women should limit their drinking even more.

“Pretty much all the literature that I’ve seen really shows that when you go above about one drink on average per day for women and two drinks on average per day for men younger than sixty-five, you start negating14 all of those positive health benefits.”

She also says staying within those limits is considered safe or non-hazardous drinking.

“For misuse you’re drinking above those limits, but you haven’t had a lot of consequences from your drinking. Once you get to abuse you start having consequences and despite the consequences you keep using. So that’s the hallmark of abuse, to continue using for at least a year despite having maybe a DUI (drinking under the influence), a health consequence, a work consequence or a family consequence.”

And, she says, alcohol dependency is further marked by a complete loss of control over alcohol use.

Kim Dennis is medical director of the Timberline Knolls15 Residential16 Treatment Center in Illinois. She notes another consideration when talking about alcohol limits.

“When we talk about an alcoholic beverage17, we need to be very clear about what we’re talking about because many of my patients at Timberline Knolls would consider a thirty-two ounce glass of beer one alcoholic beverage. And when we talk about having one alcoholic beverage, we’re referring specifically to twelve ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or one and a half ounces of hard liquor.” 

Dr. Dennis says whether drinking alcohol is a good choice for you will depend on several things.

“If a person has risk factors for developing alcoholism -- family members with alcoholism, difficult early life experiences, other addictive18 disorders19 - - the risk to benefit ratio of drinking alcohol for that person would be very, very high.”

Excessive alcohol use has been linked to chronic20 conditions like cirrhosis of the liver, pancreas disease and cardiovascular disease. It has also been linked to many forms of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, breast, colon21 and rectum.

The World Health Organization says the harmful use of alcohol results in two million five hundred thousand deaths each year. This number includes more than three hundred thousand people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine. The WHO says alcohol use is the world’s third leading cause of disease, after childhood malnourishment and unsafe sex.

One recent study involving alcohol could lead to more effective methods for treating alcohol abuse.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, believe they may have found why so many people are dependent on alcohol. Researchers at the university’s Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center were able to prove scientifically what many have long believed: drinking alcohol increases the release of endorphins in the brain.

Endorphins are small chemical proteins. They produce feelings of pleasure and reward. The researchers say this may explain why alcohol can become so addictive. The researchers used imaging technology to study the immediate7 effects of alcohol in the brains of twenty-five people.

The researchers say the study suggests that the brains of heavy drinkers change in a way to make alcohol more pleasing. They say this could explain how problem drinking becomes a problem in the first place. And, they say discovering the exact areas of the brain where endorphins are released could lead to the development of more effective drugs to help treat alcohol addiction22.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
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。
2 alcoholic rx7zC     
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。
3 gatherings 400b026348cc2270e0046708acff2352     
聚集( gathering的名词复数 ); 收集; 采集; 搜集
参考例句:
  • His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
  • During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次,其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。
4 tonic tnYwt     
n./adj.滋补品,补药,强身的,健体的
参考例句:
  • It will be marketed as a tonic for the elderly.这将作为老年人滋补品在市场上销售。
  • Sea air is Nature's best tonic for mind and body.海上的空气是大自然赋予的对人们身心的最佳补品。
5 yeast 7VIzu     
n.酵母;酵母片;泡沫;v.发酵;起泡沫
参考例句:
  • Yeast can be used in making beer and bread.酵母可用于酿啤酒和发面包。
  • The yeast began to work.酵母开始发酵。
6 molecule Y6Tzn     
n.分子,克分子
参考例句:
  • A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
  • This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。
7 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
8 intestine rbpzY     
adj.内部的;国内的;n.肠
参考例句:
  • This vitamin is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine.这种维生素通过小肠壁被吸收。
  • The service productivity is the function,including external efficiency,intestine efficiency and capacity efficiency.服务业的生产率是一个包含有外部效率、内部效率和能力效率的函数。
9 coordination Ho8zt     
n.协调,协作
参考例句:
  • Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
  • The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好,使演出更具魅力。
10 diabetes uPnzu     
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。
11 hormone uyky3     
n.荷尔蒙,激素,内分泌
参考例句:
  • Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
  • This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
12 intervention e5sxZ     
n.介入,干涉,干预
参考例句:
  • The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
  • Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。
13 misuse XEfxx     
n.误用,滥用;vt.误用,滥用
参考例句:
  • It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能,使我深感不安。
  • He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。
14 negating 92a43cdd62e27f9ac780272552c6907e     
v.取消( negate的现在分词 );使无效;否定;否认
参考例句:
  • The decline of community life is negating the work of welfare services. 社区生活的下降否定了福利机构的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Post-modernity transcends modernity by the means of negating and clearing up selfhood. 后现代超越现代性是通过否定和消解主体来实现的。 来自互联网
15 knolls 10e6bc9e96f97e83fad35374bcf19f02     
n.小圆丘,小土墩( knoll的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He carefully surveyed the ridges and knolls once more, and also the ravines and gullies. 他又注意地巡视着那些梁和峁,还有沟和壑。 来自互联网
16 residential kkrzY3     
adj.提供住宿的;居住的;住宅的
参考例句:
  • The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
  • The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。
17 beverage 0QgyN     
n.(水,酒等之外的)饮料
参考例句:
  • The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
  • Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。
18 addictive hJbyL     
adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的,成为习惯的
参考例句:
  • The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
  • Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。
19 disorders 6e49dcafe3638183c823d3aa5b12b010     
n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调
参考例句:
  • Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告,厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 chronic BO9zl     
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。
21 colon jqfzJ     
n.冒号,结肠,直肠
参考例句:
  • Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样,应当在冒号后加破折号。
  • The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。
22 addiction JyEzS     
n.上瘾入迷,嗜好
参考例句:
  • He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
  • Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。
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TAG标签:   VOA慢速英语  Expert  Use
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