VOA朗读: Study Finds Treatment Cured Sickle Cell in Adults

Study Finds Treatment Cured Sickle Cell in Adults

16 December 2009


This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Last week, researchers in the United States reported curing nine adults with sickle cell disease. Ten patients in all were treated in a study with donated bone marrow. The healthy marrow causes new blood cells to form.

Sickle cell disease, also called sickle cell anemia, is a genetic condition that deforms red blood cells. They become sticky and harden into the shape of the letter C, like a sickle, a hand tool with a curved blade.

The deformed cells block blood vessels and cut off the flow of oxygen to tissue in the body. People with sickle cell disease can suffer severe pain, bacterial infections and the death of tissue.

In other studies, bone marrow transplants cured severe sickle cell disease in almost two hundred children. Doctors first used chemicals to destroy the children's own marrow, then replaced it with healthy marrow.

However, doctors have considered this treatment too risky for adults with the disease. Their major organs are already too damaged to have all their bone marrow destroyed.

So for the ten patients in the study, doctors used a low amount of radiation to destroy only some of their marrow. Then the patients received healthy marrow. There was enough space in the bone for the healthy marrow to start producing new red blood cells.

The researchers say all ten patients remain alive two and a half years after the treatment, and the disease has disappeared in nine of them.

Marrow is a soft, spongy tissue inside bones. Doctors can collect it with a needle. But people who donate marrow must first have tests to make sure they are a good match for the patient.

The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. John Tisdale at the National Institutes of Health was the lead investigator. He says other uses for the treatment are also likely to be found.

Black people in Africa are the huge majority of those with sickle cell disease. About two hundred thousand cases are found in African children every year. About eighty thousand people have it in the United States.

A study published in September in the Lancet said antibacterial vaccines could save the lives of children with sickle cell in Africa. The study pointed out that many children die before they are even identified as having the disease. They die from bacterial infections for which there are new vaccines. But these vaccines are costly and available mainly in wealthy countries.

这里是VOA特别英语健康报道。

上周，美国研究人员报告9名患镰刀性细胞贫血症的成人被治愈。在这项研究中，共有10名病人用捐赠的骨髓进行了治疗。这些健康的骨髓促使健康的血细胞形成。

镰状细胞病也叫做镰刀性细胞贫血病，是红[血]细胞残缺的一种基因遗传类疾病。红细胞粘稠，硬化成字母C的形状，就像一把弯弯的镰刀。这些变形的细胞阻塞血管，阻断了氧气向身体各组织的输送。患有镰刀形细胞贫血症的人会遭受剧烈的疼痛，细菌感染和组织坏死。

在其他研究中，骨髓移植共治愈了200名镰刀形细胞贫血症儿童。医生首先使用化学物质毁坏儿童自己的骨髓，然后用健康的骨髓替代。

然而，医生认为这种治疗方法对成人患者来说太过危险。他们的主要器官已经受到严重损害，已经不能把他们的自由骨髓损坏。

所以，对于研究中的9名病人，医生使用了低量的放射性物质，只损坏其中一部分骨髓，然后接受健康的骨髓。骨头中有足够的空间让新的骨髓开始产生新的红细胞。

研究人员称，经过治疗之后，所有10名病人仍然活着，而其中9人的疾病已经治愈。

骨髓是骨头中一种柔软的海面组织，医生可以用针来收集。但是捐赠骨髓者首先必须进行测试，确保能够与病人相吻合。

新英格兰医学期刊发表了这篇研究。国立卫生研究所的John Tisdale是这项调查的负责人。他说，还可能发现这种治疗方法的其他用途。

在患有镰刀形细胞贫血症的人群中，非洲黑人占了一大部分。每年大约发现20万例非洲儿童患有这种疾病，美国有8万。

九月份柳叶刀期刊发表的一份研究称，抗菌疫苗可以拯救非洲镰刀形细胞病儿童的生命。研究指出，许多儿童在诊断出患有这种疾病之前已经死亡。他们死于细菌感染，而针对这种细菌已经有了新的疫苗。但是这些疫苗非常昂贵，主要在发达国家供应。

(中译ZT网络)