Hypertension Drugs Found to Cut Risk of Stroke

    Australian doctors declared Monday that a cocktail of simple antihypertensive drugs can lower the risk of patients suffering a repeat stroke by more than a third. This is the result of their research. The research, presented at a medical conference in Italyover the weekend, has been valued highly as a major breakthrough in stroke prevention.

    Strokes kill 5 million people a year, and more than 15 million suffer nbn-fatal strokes that often leave them with useless limbs , slurred speech and other serious disabilities. One in five stroke survivors goes on to have a second, often fatal, stroke within five years of the first.

    An international six-year study of 6，100 patients directed from Sydney University found that by taking two blood pressure-lowering drugs,the risk of secondary strokes can be reduced by up to 40 per cent. Even taking one of the commonly available drugs can cut the risk by a third，the study said. The drugs are the diuretic indapamide and the ACE inhibitor¹ perindopril, better known by its brand name Coversyl. The combination was effective even in patients who did not have high blood pressure，the researchers said. They even found that the risk of another stroke could be cut by three quarters among the one-in-ten patients who had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, the worst type of stroke, where there is direct bleeding into the brain.

    Stephen McMahon, who presented the research at theMilancongress of the European Society of Hypertension, said about 50 million people were alive who had suffered at least one stroke. "If most of those patients were able to get access to² this treatment, it would result in³ maybe the avoidance of half a million strokes a year，” the professor told Australia"s ABC Radio.

    McMahon said doctors had long known that lowering the blood pressure of those with hypertension could help prevent strokes. "What we have shown for the first time is that it does not really matter what your blood pressure is⁴ ； if you have had a stroke，then lowering blood pressure will produce large benefits, to begin with⁵— even for people whose blood pressure is average or below average，” he said.

    McMahon said the Milan gathering had heralded the research as a “ major breakthrough in the care of patients with strokes 一 perhaps the biggest step forward that we have made in the last couple of decades".

词汇：

hypertension /ˌhaɪpəˈtenʃn/ n.高血压

cocktail /"kɒkteɪl/ n.鸡尾酒（一种各种成分混合的饮料）；混合剂，合剂

antihypertensive / "ænti:hɑɪpə"tensɪv/ adj. .抗高血压的；抗高血压药

slur  /slɜ:(r) / vt.  (使）含糊不清 

diuretic / ˌdaɪjuˈretɪk/ adj. 禾尿的；利尿剂

indapamide /ɪndəpə"maɪd/ n. 吲达帕胺，茚磺苯酰胺(抗高血压药，利尿药）

inhibitor /ɪnˈhɪbɪtə(r)/ n.抑制剂，抑制物

perindopril .呱哚普利

cerebral / ˈserəbrəl, səˈri:-/ adj. 大脑的

h (a) emorrhage  /ˈhemərɪdʒ/ n.  出血

bleeding  /ˈbli:dɪŋ/ v.出血，放血

avoidance /əˈvɔɪdəns/ n.  避免，逃避

herald  /ˈherəld/ v.宣布；预示……的来临

注释：

1.ACE (angiotension converting enzyme) inhibitor:血管紧张肽转化酶抑制剂

2.get/have access to:有机会，有权利,有办法。例如:You can get easy access to him.你可以很容易见到他。Students must have access to good books.学生们必须有机会读到好书。

3.result in：(原因）导致（……结果）请注意另一短语result from,其因果关系正相反：（结果）是由……原因所造成的。 例如:His negligence resulted in the accident.他的疏<忽导致了这个事故。Sickness often results from eating too much.疾病常常是因饮食过度造成的。

4.What we have shown for the first time is that it does not really matter what your blood pressure is...：我们第一次所证明的是，你的血压高低并不太重要……在本句中What.. .time是主语从句，that... is是表语从句。在表语从句中it是形式主语， what... is是主语从句。在这里matter是不及物动词,等于be of importance,即“关系重大”。 例如:It doesn"t matter what you do or where you go.你做什么事或到什么地方去，这都无关紧要。

5.to begin with ：首先（作插入语)，例如:He is very diligent, to begin with.首先，他很勤奋。

What patients among those who have had a stroke will benefit greatly from taking blood pressure-lowering drugs?

A:Those whose blood pressure is high B:Those whose blood pressure is average C:Those whose blood pressure is below average D:All of the above

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