Drug Reactions — a Major Cause of Death

    Adverse drug reactions may cause the deaths of over 100,000 US hospital patients each year, making them a leading cause of death nationwide¹, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

    “The incidence of serious and fatal adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in US hospitals was found to be extremely high,” say researchers at the UniversityofTorontoinOntario,Canada.

    They carried on an analysis of 39 ADR-related studies² at US hospitals over the past 30 years and defined an ADR as “any harmful, unintended, and undesired effect of a drug which occurs at doses used in humans for prevention, diagnosis, or therapy.”³

    An average 6.7% of all hospitalized patients experience an ADR every year, according to the reasearchers.They estimate that "in 1994, overall 2，216 000 hospitalized patients had serious ADRs, and 106,000 had fatal ADRs." This means that ADRs may rank as the fourth single largest cause of death in America.⁴

    And these incidence figures are probably conservative, the researchers add, since their ADR definition did not include outcomes linked to problems in drug administration, overdoses, drug abuse, and therapeutic failures⁵.

    The control of ADRs also means spending more money. OneUSstudy estimated the overall cost of treating ADRs at up to $4 billion per year.

    Dr. David Bates of Brigham and Women"s Hospital inBoston,Massachusetts, believes that healthcare workers need to pay more attention to the problem, especially since many ADRs are easily preventable. "When a patient develops an allergy or sensitivity, it is often not recorded,"Bates notes⁶, "and patients receive drugs to which they have known allergies or sensitivities with disturbing frequency.”⁷ He. believes computerized surveillance systems still works-in-progress at many of the nation"s hospitals⁸ — should help cut down the frequency of these types of errors.

词汇：

reaction /rɪ"ækʃən/ n.反应，作用

conservative /kən"sɜːvətɪv/ adj.保守的，守旧的；稳当的

adverse /"ædvɜːs/ adj.不利的，有害的

incidence/"ɪnsɪdəns/ n.发生率；发生

define /di"fain/ vt.解释，给……下定义

diagnosis/,daɪəg"nəʊsɪs/n.诊断（法），诊断结论

sensitivity /sensɪ"tɪvɪtɪ/n.过敏（性）；敏感

hospitalize /"hɒspɪtəlaɪz/ vt.送进……医院治疗

surveillance/sə"veɪləns/ n.监督，检查，监管

注释：

1．making them a leading cause of death nationwide：使它们在全国范围内成为导致死亡最重的原因之一的原因之一

2．ADR-related studies：涉及用药不良反应的研究

3．any harmful, unintended, and undesired effect of a drug for prevention, diagnosis, or therapy：用于人体预防、诊断及治疗目的的药物剂量造成的任何有害、非故意和不良的后果

4．This means that ADRs may rank as the fourth single largest cause of death in America这意味着用药不良反应在美国可列为引起死亡的第四大单项因素。动词短语“rank as”意为“排行为”，“列为”。

5．since their ADR definition did not include outcomes linked to problems in drug administration, overdoses, drug abuse, and therapeutic failures：因为他们对用药不良反应下的定义不包括错误服药、过量用药、滥用药物和治疗失败所造成的后果。

6．“When a patient develops an allergy or sensitivity, it is often not recorded,”Bates notes...：“当一个病人产生了（药物）过敏时，往往没有记录下来，”贝茨指出……实际上，“allergy”和"sensitivity "是“药物过敏”的不同说法。句中"note"的意思是"记下"、"写下"或"指出"。

7．and patients receive drugs to which they have known allergies or sensitives with disturbing frequency：这是整个并列句的第二部分。其中，主语为patients，谓语是receive，宾语是drugs，后面有定语从句to which they have known allergies or sensitivities作为它的修饰语，宾语部分的意思是：“已知道他们对其有过敏反应的药物”：最后是一个借此短语with disturbing frequency作方式状语，字面意思是的是：以使人不安的频率。整句话意为：令人不安的是，病人常常服用那些他们已知道对其有变态反应和过敏反应的药物。

8．still works-in-progress at many of the nation’s hospitals：……在国内的许多医院里还是一个正在逐步建立起来的措施……

An American research estimates that the total sum of money spent in treating ADRs each year is as much as____

A:$40,000,000,000 B:$4,000,000,000 C:$400,000,000 D:$40,000,000

—My baby has a heart trouble.
—Did the doctor find it difficult______.

A:in treating B:treating C:for treating D:to treat

—My baby has a heart trouble. —Did the doctor find it difficult______.

A:in treating B:treating C:for treating D:to treat

Hypnosis 　　1 Increasing numbers of American doctors are using a technique known as hypnosis. They say hypnosis often can help persons suffering pain and stress. It also can help speed the healing of burns and treats some forms of asthma and some skin diseases. Hypnosis is not new. It has been used for many years both in scientific research and to please crowds at public gatherings. 　　2 Hypnosis is commonly described as a condition similar to sleep. But, experts say it is more a form of deep thought. The thought becomes so intense that it is no longer just a thought. To the person, it becomes reality. 　　3 Hypnotized patients are reported to have increased self-control and a reduced sense of pain. Some doctors use hypnosis to limit pain during a medical operation. Hypnosis is used mainly when the patient may have problems with usual anesthetic or pain-killing drugs. 　　4 Experts say there is little chance that a patient will awaken during such an operation. But, if this happens, the operation is temporarily halted, and the patient hypnotized again. Doctors may advise hypnosis for women who are giving birth. Dentist may use it in place of traditional painkilling drugs, such as movocaine. 　　5 Hypnosis also has been used to treat burn victims. Researchers have found that burn victims who are hypnotized improve faster that those who are not. But, they are not sure why this happens. 　　6 Hypnosis can reduce or end a patient’s pain. But experts say this does not mean the patient is cured. The problem that caused the pain still must be treated. 　　7 Experts also say persons cannot be forced to do something they would normally oppose. That is why hypnosis often is not effective in treating cigarette smokers and persons who eat or drink too much. The success of the technique depends on how much someone wants it to succeed.

A:hypnosis can reduce or end a patient’s pain. B:Why hypnosis is not effective in treating cigarette smokers and some other illness. C:Hypnosis can treat burn victims. D:The definition of hypnosis E:The function of hypnosis F:The importance of hypnosis oppose

The fact that you did not do this( )to us to be a particularly ungenerous way of treating a regular customer．

A:seems B:may be C:is D:looks

The fact that you did not do this ( )to us to be a particularly ungenerous way of treating a regular customer.

A:seems B:may be C:is D:looks