VOA标准英语2014--Critically Ill Patients at Risk for Developing Mental Illness 危重病人更易患精神疾病

 

Critically Ill Patients at Risk for Developing Mental Illness 危重病人更易患精神疾病

A new study shows that people with critical illnesses are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder¹ and other psychiatric illnesses than people who haven't experienced a life-threatening disease.

Studies show that people with diabetes² and heart disease have greater than normal chances of suffering from depression, a mental illness that can interfere³ with daily life and any enjoyment⁴ of it.

But what about illnesses so severe that those who have them end up in hospital intensive care units?  

Dr. Derek Angus of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center led a study that examined the relationship between critical illness and mental illness. Researchers reviewed the medical records of all patients admitted to intensive care units in Denmark over a three-year period.

“Denmark is important because for many years now they have been collecting national data on essentially⁵ the health and wellness of every person living in Denmark," said Angus.

“We were interested in people who got a new or sudden critical illness such as pneumonia⁶ or an episode of sepsis," said Angus.

For example, patients on ventilators admitted the intensive care unit, or ICU,  were compared to similar patients in other wards⁷ of the hospital and in the general population.    

“Patients who came into the ICU were, in fact, more likely to already have pre-existing psychiatric illness or to already be on psychiatric medications," said Angus.

But the researchers were curious about patients who had no previous mental illnesses and had not been on psychiatric medications.

"There was an absolute new risk of new psychiatric diagnoses and new psycho-active medication use. Even though it was less than one percent, it was 20-fold higher than the likelihood of getting a new psychiatric illness had you been a general population member with similar underlying⁸ characteristics," said Angus.

Dr. Angus says the risk is significant enough to tell patients and their families that depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder is a known complication of surviving critical illness.

 

The study found the risk was highest in the first three months after being discharged, and declined significantly as time went on. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

1 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

2 diabetes   

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。

3 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

4 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

7 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

8 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。