Salt and Blood

                            06 食盐与血压的关系

DATE=2-22-01
TITLE=SCIENCE REPORT - Salt and Blood (1)Pressure
BYLINE=Jerilyn Watson

      （Start at 1'00")This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Science Report.
Most doctors have long believed that reducing salt can (2)decrease blood pressure. A new American study suggests this is true even when people do not eat the healthiest foods.
The research appeared in the New England Journal¹ of Medicine. A team at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, (3)Massachusetts performed the study. Frank² Sacks³ of Harvard University Medical School led the team.
More than four-hundred people took part in the research. Almost half of them had high blood pressure. They all ate foods with different amounts of salt. Salt contains sodium⁴. There is strong evidence⁵ that (4)sodium affects blood pressure.
Half the people ate an average American diet. Their food was high in fat and (5)cholesterol. The other people ate low-fat, low-cholesterol foods. Members of the low-fat group ate many vegetables, fruits and grains.
The study showed that the people who ate healthful foods while eating less salt lowered⁶ their blood pressure the most. However, blood pressure decreased for both groups when they ate less salt. Almost fifty-million Americans have high blood pressure. Continued high-blood pressure is (6)dangerous because it can (7)increase the risk of heart disease⁷ and (8)stroke.
Philip Greenland of Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois praised the study. He said the decreases in blood pressure among the people in the study were similar to those caused by medicine. However, Doctor Greenland said popular (9)prepared foods need to be improved if people are to decrease salt in their diets. He said most people get their salt mainly from these prepared foods. They include many soups and cooked meat products.
The Salt Institute is an association⁸ representing⁹ the salt industry. The (10)institute does not (11)dispute the research results. But it says the results show a low-fat diet reduces blood pressure better than reducing salt. The Salt Institute also says efforts to reduce sodium use have proved impossible for twenty years.
David McCarron is a medical professor at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. He says salt does not make much difference in controlling blood pressure when people eat the right foods. Doctor McCarron says healthy diets should include fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy¹⁰ products.
This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

(1) pressure[`preFE(r)]n.压, 压力, 电压, 压迫, 强制, 紧迫
(2) decrease[ di:5kri:s ]n.减少, 减少之量v.减少
(3) Massachusetts[ 7mAsE5tFu:sits ]n.麻萨诸塞州
(4) sodium[ 5sEudjEm, -diEm ]n.[化] 钠
(5) cholesterol[ kE5lestErEul, -rCl ]n.胆固醇
(6) dangerous[ 5deindVrEs ]adj.危险的
(7) increase[ in5kri:s ]n.增加, 增大, 增长vt.增加, 加大vi.增加, 繁殖
(8) stroke[ strEuk ]n.击, 敲, 报时的钟声, (网球等)一击, (划船等)一划, (绘画等)一笔, 一次努力, 打击vt.抚摸
(9) prepared[ pri5pZEd ]adj.准备好的, 精制的
(10) nstitute[ 5institju:t ]n.学会, 学院, 协会vt.创立, 开始, 制定, 开始(调查), 提起(诉讼)
(11) dispute[ dis5pju:t ]v.争论, 辩论, 怀疑, 抗拒, 争夺(土地,胜利等)n.争论, 辩论, 争吵
(12) dairy[ 5dZEri ]n.牛奶场, 奶品场, 售牛奶, 奶油, 鸡蛋等的商店, 奶制品

1 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

2 frank   

adj.坦白的，直率的，真诚的

参考例句：

• A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
• She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。

3 sacks   

洗劫( sack的名词复数 )； 大袋； 麻袋； 床

参考例句：

• Help me to load the sacks onto the cart. 帮我把货装到这辆车上。
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。

4 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

5 evidence   

n.明显，显著，明白，迹象，根据，[物]证据，证物

参考例句：

• The first signs of spring are in evidence.春天的最初迹象已显然可见。
• From the evidence I must conclude that you are wrong.从证据看，我敢断定你错了。

6 lowered   

v.（使）降低， （使）跌落( lower的过去式和过去分词 )；削弱；削减；减少

参考例句：

• Every evening at sunset the flag was lowered. 每天傍晚日落时都要降旗。
• She lowered her eyelids, then sprang them open. 她低垂着眼睑，然后突然睁开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

8 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

9 representing   

v.表现( represent的现在分词 )；代表；体现；作为…的代表

参考例句：

• a diagram representing a cross section of the human eye 表现人眼的剖面图
• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。

10 dairy   

n.牛奶场，乳品店；adj.乳制品的

参考例句：

• The yogurt sold by this dairy is delicious.这家乳品店出售的酸奶非常好喝。
• He kept a few dairy cows.他养了几头奶牛。