2007年VOA标准英语-Global High Blood Pressure Epidemic Foreseen

By David McAlary
Washington
17 May 2007

Health groups are warning of a coming international epidemic¹ of high blood pressure that will trigger an upsurge in heart disease, strokes, and kidney failure if not controlled. A report by prestigious² U.S. and European academic institutions calls for action by governments and healthcare organizations to stem a health condition that grips a large proportion of the global population. VOA's David McAlary reports from Washington.

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Hypertension can damage blood vessels, causing heart attacks, strokes, dementia and kidney disease

High blood pressure is called the silent killer⁴ because a person cannot feel it. Yet hypertension can damage blood vessels, causing heart attacks, strokes, dementia and kidney disease.

A report by experts at the State University of New York, the London School of Economics, and the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm says the condition affects one-fourth of humanity and is estimated to kill more than seven million people each year. If nothing is done, the report predicts high blood pressure incidence will increase 60 percent by 2025, afflicting⁵ more than one-and-a-half billion people.

"There are two sorts of people as far as hypertension is concerned. There are those people who have hypertension and those who are going to get it," says State University of New York physician Michael Weber, a co-author of the report, speaking at a Washington briefing. "Everyone in the end will have high blood pressure, well over 90 percent us if we live long enough. That's because we live in a society where out diet, our mode of activity, and perhaps our genetics determine that, in the end, our arteries⁶ will harden and our blood pressures will increase."

A member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Donna Christensen, says this is true both in industrial nations and in developing countries that are adopting the Western lifestyle.

"There is major concern about the projected increases in developing countries such as Brazil, China, India, Turkey, and the central European states. Its morbidity⁷ and mortality is underrecognized here and elsewhere. We are at the not-so-early stages of another major global health crisis," she said.

The new report says if estimates prove correct, 75 percent of people with high blood pressure will be in developing countries, with a potential cost of countless⁸ billions of dollars from death and disability.

The American Heart Association says more than a third of the people in the United States have it at a cost $66 billion to the economy this year alone.

The report recommends five actions for governments, health organizations and practitioners⁹, and professional societies: recognize hypertension as a global epidemic, agree on standards for controlling it, improve preventive measures at the community level, educate the public about it, and conduct studies to measure the costs and benefits of aggressively fighting it.

Although reducing hypertension prevalence would save money from fewer deaths and less disability, Dr. Weber warns that it will not necessary cut health care costs. People who would otherwise die from hypertension-induced strokes or heart attacks would live to eventually get the expensive ailments¹⁰ of aging, such as cancer. And he says fighting high blood pressure will itself cost money.

"We do have to pay for it. The good news is you get good value for your dollar. You're going to be living longer and living better," said Dr. Weber.

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

3 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

5 afflicting   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是困扰现代社会的严重问题之一。
• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是危害社会的弊病之一。

6 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 morbidity   

n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率

参考例句：

• MC's also significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. 肥大细胞同样也能显著降低蜜蜂毒液诱发疾病的发病率和死亡率。 来自互联网
• The result shows that incidence of myopia morbidity is 44.84%. 结果表明：近视眼的发病率为44.84%。 来自互联网

8 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

9 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

10 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。