The Lives of Peter Safar and Louis Lasagna

By Caty Weaver¹
Broadcast: August 19, 2003
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
I'm Bob Doughty² with Sarah Long, and this is the VOA Special English program, SCIENCE IN THE NEWS.
VOICE TWO:
This week -- the medical world loses two important doctors after long and successful careers. We tell about their lasting³ influences on medicine.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
An American doctor who developed emergency first-aid methods used around the world had died. Peter Safar [SA-fer] was seventy-nine years old and had cancer. He died at his home near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Doctor Safar was known as "the father of C-P-R." CPR is 1)cardiopulmonary 2)resuscitation⁴. It is a series of steps in an effort to restart a person's heart and lungs. Almost anyone can learn CPR.
Peter Safar was born in Austria in nineteen-twenty-four. He briefly⁵ studied medicine at the University of Vienna and at Yale University in New Haven⁶, Connecticut. He completed his studies at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He trained in 3)anesthesiology. He learned how to prevent pain from operations and other treatments. After he completed his training, he spent two years at the National Cancer Institute in Lima, Peru.
VOICE TWO:
Doctor Safar had wanted to become a surgeon. He wanted to perform operations. However, he came to believe that not enough was known about more basic life-saving methods. He began research in this field in the late nineteen-fifties.
Doctor Safar perfected what is now called the ABCs of CPR. ABC is an easy way to remember, in order, the three steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
"A" is for airway⁷. The first step is to clear the victim's breathing passages. You press down on the top of the head with one hand and lift under the chin with the other.
"B" stands for breathing. The rescuer closes the victim's nose with two fingers, then provides air mouth-to-mouth. The rescuer blows into the lungs with slow, full breaths -- in combination, if necessary, with step C.
"C" is for 4)circulation. This is done if the heart has stopped. The rescuer places one hand over the other on the middle of the victim's chest. Then, with fingers locked together, the rescuer presses down firmly and quickly. A series of compressions like this forces blood through the heart and to the brain.
People who learn CPR are taught to pump at a rate of eighty to one-hundred compressions per minute. After fifteen compressions, the rescuer stops and gives two more full breaths to refill the lungs. Compressions and breaths continue until the heart has restarted or medical help has arrived.
If the heart has started again but the victim still does not breathe normally, then only rescue breaths continue. The 5)rescuer gives one breath every five seconds.
CPR can be done by one person or two. The important thing is to begin CPR quickly. A victim can suffer permanent brain damage after four minutes without oxygen. A few minutes later the victim can die.
CPR is used by emergency workers, but also by the general public. Groups like the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies teach CPR. The training can be done in just a few hours.
VOICE ONE:
Peter Safar leaves behind his wife, Eva, along with two sons, and their five children. He earned the title of Distinguished⁸ Professor of Resuscitation Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.
In nineteen-seventy-nine he established the International Resuscitation Research Center at the school. In nineteen-ninety-four it was renamed. It is now the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research.
Doctor Safar had many other successes in medicine. He helped develop intensive care units in hospitals. These are where the sickest or most severely⁹ injured people are treated.
Doctor Safar helped design the modern emergency-medical vehicle, along with training for the people who operate them.
He was also a peace activist¹⁰ with groups such as Physicians for Social Responsibility.
In later years, he researched the effects of cooling the bodies of people who have just survived a heart attack. There is evidence that immediate¹¹ cooling may help prevent brain damage. Recent studies have added to this evidence.
VOICE TWO:
Doctor Safar knew tragically¹² what could happen when the brain is starved of air.
In nineteen-sixty-six, his only daughter, Elizabeth, suffered an asthma¹³ attack. She stopped breathing. Her heart also stopped. Doctor Safar was able to return her heartbeat and breathing. But the lack of oxygen had already destroyed her brain, and she died. Elizabeth Safar was eleven years old.
Doctor Safar made it clear that he did not develop cardiopulmonary resuscitation by himself. He also named others who did important work.
There is no way to know exactly how many people have been saved by this emergency first-aid. But each year millions more all over the world learn the ABCs of CPR.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Another important doctor also died of cancer this month in the United States. His name was Louis Lasagna [la-ZHAN-ya], and he was eighty years old. He died in his hometown of Newton, Massachusetts.
Doctor Lasagna was a professor of pharmacology -- the science of how drugs affect living systems. He taught at Tufts University, in Boston, Massachusetts. Some call him the father of pharmacology. One Tufts professor says Doctor Lasagna's work is found almost everywhere in the day-to-day work of 6)pharmacologists.
His most influential¹⁴ work was an article that appeared in nineteen-fifty-four in the American Journal of Medicine. He wrote about a condition known as the "placebo¹⁵ effect."
VOICE TWO:
A placebo is substance, usually in pill form, that does not contain any medicine. Yet Louis Lasagna showed that sometimes people improve even when they receive placebos¹⁶.
Doctor Lasagna was concerned about the government process for approving drugs. He carried out a campaign to make approval more difficult. Doctor Lasagna argued that all drug testing should include the use of placebos as a study control.
Doctor Lasagna appeared before a congressional committee to answer questions about the issue. The Food and Drug Administration and the drug industry made some major reforms as a result.
VOICE ONE:
Today placebos are used throughout studies of experimental drugs. Some people in a study will receive the medicine being tested. Others will receive placebos. The people are not told which pill they are getting. At the end, the researchers compare the results from the two groups. They look to see if the drug being tested did any better or worse than the 7)placebo.
In nineteen-ninety-seven, the editor of the British magazine The Lancet honored Doctor Lasagna's article. The editor included it on a list of the world's twenty-seven most notable medical developments since the time of Hippocrates. Hippocrates was an influential Greek doctor who lived more than two-thousand years ago.
VOICE TWO:
Louis Lasagna was from New York City. He went to Rutgers University in New Jersey¹⁷. Later, he returned to New York City to attend medical school at Columbia University. He received his degree in nineteen-forty-seven.
Doctor Lasagna taught at top medical centers, including the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. And, his lessons went beyond just the science of medicine. Doctor Lasagna trained students to seek an emotional understanding of each patient. He believed it was important for doctors to remember that they treat human beings -- not diseases.
He included that thinking when he wrote a new version of the Hippocratic Oath in nineteen-sixty-four. The Hippocratic Oath is the traditional promise that doctors make when they receive their degree from medical school.
Louis Lasagna's version, which many schools accepted, calls on doctors to employ sympathy and understanding in dealing¹⁸ with the sick. The oath says doctors should recognize the reach of disease. They should recognize that sickness can hurt not only the patient, but the patient's family and economic situation, too.
Doctor Lasagna's version also calls on doctors to work to prevent disease. It says prevention is always better than cure.
Doctors Lasagna wrote a lot of other things, too, during his fifty-year career. These include two books that he wrote during the nineteen-sixties: "The Doctors' Dilemma¹⁹" and "Life, Death and the Doctor."
Louis Lasagna is survived by his wife, Helen Gersten, seven children and eight grandchildren.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written and produced by Caty Weaver. This is Bob Doughty.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

注释：
1) cardiopulmonary [7kB:diEu5pQlmEnEri] adj.（医）心肺的，与心肺有关的
2) resuscitation [ri7sQsi5teiFEn] n.复生，复兴
3) anesthesiology [7AnisWizi5ClEdVi] n.麻醉学
4) circulation [7sE:kju5leiFEn] n.循环，流通
5) rescuer [5reskju:E] n.救助者
6) pharmacologist [7fB:mE5kClEdVist] n.药理学家
7) placebo [plE5si:bEu] n.为死者所诵的晚祷词，安慰剂

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 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。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 resuscitation   

n.复活

参考例句：

• Despite attempts at resuscitation,Mr Lynch died a week later in hospital.虽经全力抢救，但林奇先生一周以后还是在医院去世了。
• We gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage.我们对他进行了口对口复苏救治和心脏按摩。

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

7 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

8 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

9 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。

10 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

11 immediate   

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。

12 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

13 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

14 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

15 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。

16 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

17 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

18 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

19 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。