Most Adults in US Have Low Risk of Heart Disease

     More than 80 percent of US adults have a less than 10–percent risk of developing heart disease in the next 10 years, according to a report in the Journal of the AmericanCollegeof Cardiology. Just 3 percent have a risk that exceeds 20 percent.

     “I hope that these numbers will give physicians, researchers, health policy analysts, and others a better idea of how coronary heart disease is distributed in the US population,” lead author Dr. Earl S. Ford, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention¹ in Atlanta, said in a statement.

    The findings are based on analysis of data from 13,769 subjects, between 20 and 79 years of age, who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1988 to 1994.

    Overall, 82 percent of adults had a risk of less than 10 percent, 15 percent had a risk that fell between 10 to 20 percent, and 3 percent had a risk above 20 percent.

    The proportion of subjects in the highest risk group increased with advancing age, and men were more likely than women to be in this group.² By contrast³, race or ethnicity had little effect on risk distributions.

     Although the report suggests that most adults have a low 10–year risk of heart disease, a large proportion have a high or immediate risk⁴, Dr. Daniel S. Berman, from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Dr. Nathan D. Wong, from the University of California at Irvine, note in a related editorial.

    Aggressive treatment measures and public health strategies are needed to shift the overall population risk downward, they add.

词汇：

Cardiology / ˌkɑ:dɪ"ɒlədʒɪ / n．心脏(病)学  

nutrition /njuˈtrɪʃn/  n．营养的供给

coronary /"kɒrənrɪ/ adj．心脏冠状动脉的   

ethnicity /eθˈnɪsəti/ n．人种分类，种族划分

lead /li:d/ adj．带头的

注释：

1.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:疾病防控中心
2.The proportion of subjects in the highest risk group increased with advancing age, and men were more likely than women to be in this group.实验对象年龄越大,在最高风险组中所占的比例也越大;男人进入该组的可能性亦大于女人。
3.by contrast:对比之下
4.Although the report suggests that most adults have a low 10–year risk of heart disease, a large proportion have a high or immediate risk...: 尽管报告提示大多数成年人十年内患心脏病的风险较低,但是在有风险者中,很大一部分所面临的风险却是很高的或是刻不容缓的……

Only 3 percent of US adults have a more than 10 percent 10–year risk of heart disease

A:Right B:Wrong C:Not mentioned

U. S. Eats Too Much Salt

    People in the United Statesconsume more than twice the recommended amount¹ of salt, raising their risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes, government health experts said on Thursday.

    They found nearly 70 percent ofU. S.adults are in high-risk groups that would benefit from a lower-salt diet of no more than 1,500 mg per day²，yet most consume closer to 3,500 mg per day.

    “It’s important for people to eat less salt. People who adopt a heart-healthy eating pattern that includes a diet low in sodium and rich in potassium and calcium can improve their blood pressure,”Dr. Darwin Labarthe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

    “People need to know their recommended daily sodium limit and take action to reduce sodium intake,” Labarthe said.

    The study in CDC’s weekly report on death and disease used national survey data to show that two out of three adults should be consuming no more than 1，500 mg of sodium per day because they are black or over the age of 40一which are considered high-risk groups.

    Yet studies show most people in theUnited Stateseat 3,436 mg of sodium per day, according to a 2005–2006 CDC estimate.

    Most of the sodium eaten comes from packaged, processed and restaurant foods. The CDC said it will join other agencies in the Health and Human Services department in working with major food manufacturers and chain restaurants to reduce sodium levels in the food supply.

    Nationwide, 16 million men and women have heart disease and 5.8 million are estimated to have had a stroke. Cutting salt consumption can reduce these risks, the CDC said.

词汇：

sodium/ "səʊdɪəm/ n.钠

potassium/pəˈtæsiəm/n.钾

calcium/ "kælsɪəm/ n.钙

intake / ˈɪnteɪk/n.纳入量

注释:

1.more than twice the recommended amount：比推荐量的两倍还多

2.They found nearly 70 percent ofU. S.adults are in high-risk groups that would benefit from a lower-salt diet of no more than 1,500 mg per day：他们发现将近分之七十的美国成年人属于高危人群,如果他们的日食盐量降至l,500毫克,则会从中受益。

How much salt do most American adults eat per day?

A:No more than 1,500 mg B:Closer to 3,500 mg C:Less than 3,436 mg D:Closer to 1,500 mg

If national health insurance would not cure the problems of the American healthcare system, what, then, is responsible for them Suspicion falls heavily on hospitals, which make up the largest component of the system. In 1988 hospitals accounted for 39% of all health expenditures-more than doctor, nursing homes, drugs, and home health care combined.
Although U. S. hospitals provide outstanding research and frequently excellent care, they also exhibit the classic attributes of insufficient organizations: increasing costs and decreasing use. The average cost of a hospital stay in 1987—＄3,850—was more than double the 1980 cost. A careful government analysis published in 1987 revealed the inflation of hospital costs, over and above general price inflation, as a major factor in their growth, even after allowances were made for increases in the population and in intensity of care. While the rate of increase for hospital costs was 2796 greater than that for all medical care and 163% greater than that for all other goods and services, demand for hospital services fell by 34%. But hospitals seemed oblivious of the decline: during this period the number of hospital beds shrank only by about 396, and the number of full-time employees grew by more than 240, 000.
After yet another unexpectedly high hospital-cost increase last year, one puzzled government analyst asked: "Where’s the money going" Much of the increase in hospital costs—amounting to ＄180 billion from 1965 to 1987—went to duplicating medical technology available in nearby hospitals and maintaining excess beds. Modern Healthcare, a leading journal in the field, recently noted that "anecdotes of hospitals’ unnecessary spending on technology abound". Medical technology is very expensive. An operating room outfitted to perform open-heart surgery costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. From 1982 to 1989 the number of hospitals with open-heart-surgery facilities grew by 33%, and the most rapid growth occurred among smaller and moderate-sized hospitals. This growth was worrisome for reasons of both costs and quality. Underused technology almost inevitably decreases quality of care. In medicine, as in everything else, practice makes perfect. For example, most of the hospitals with the lowest ra6rtaiity rates for coronary-bypass surgery perform at least fifty to a hundred such procedures annually, and in some cases many more: the majority of those with the highest mortality rates perform fewer than fifty a year.
In 1980, the average cost of a hospital stay was __

A:＄3,850, B:less than ＄1,925 C:＄1,925 D:more than ＄1,925

Text 2

A:＄3,850, B:less than ＄1,925 C:＄1,925 D:more than ＄1,925

(The) more than 50, 000 nuclear weapons in the hands of various nations today are (more than) ample (destroying) every city in the world several times (over).

A:The B:more than C:destroying D:over

Venus (approaches) the earth (more closely) (than) any other planet (is).（　）

A:approaches B:more closely C:than D:is

Male smokers are more affected by smoking than female ones because ______.

A:male smokers smoke more than female ones B:male smokers are more likely to be affected by smoking C:male smokers breath in the smoke deeper than female ones D:male smokers are more likely to be affected by other factors in envionment