经济学人 | 是什么一年内夺走了十万美国人的命?

作者: 魔力学院 | 来源:发表于2017-09-21 09:43 被阅读35次

死亡,可能源于一个持枪的歹徒,也可能是因为你喝下的一杯酒……

Got to give it up

不能再喝了

Heavy drinking still kills many more people than opioid overdoses.

比起阿片类药物过量,酗酒杀死了更多的人。

【1】THE White House has plans to declare the opioid crisis anational emergency. This concern isjustified: in their legal and illegal forms, opioids kill an American every 16 minutes. Yet a focus on opioids haseclipsedthe damage caused by an evendeadlier, more commonsubstance. Between 2006 and 2010, an average of 106,765 Americans died each year fromalcohol-related causes such asliverdisease, alcoholpoisoningand drunk driving—more than twice the number of overdoses from all drugs and more than triple the number of opioid overdoses in 2015. Although Americansquaffless alcohol per person than the pub-lovingBritishandIrishor the beer-fondGermans, they are drinking far more heavily than they used to.

opioid:[oʊ'pi:oʊɪd] adj.类鸦片(引起)的 n.类鸦片活性肽

overdose:[ˈoʊvərdoʊs] (药物等的)过量;致死(或中毒)剂量

national emergency:全国紧急状态

justified:[ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪd] adj.有正当理由的,合理的

eclipse:[ɪ'klɪps] n. 日或月食;丧失;没落 vt. 形成日或月食;使 ... 黯然失色

There will be an eclipse of the moon next month.

下月将有月食。

deadly:[ˈdedli] adj.极端的,非常的;致命的,致死的 adv.极其,非常

substance:[ˈsʌbstəns] n.物质,材料

alcohol:[ˈælkəhɔ:l] n.乙醇,酒精

liver:[ˈlɪvə(r)] n.肝脏

poision:[ˈpɔɪzn] n.毒药;酒;极糟的食物;极有害的思想(或心情等) vt.毒死;污染

quaff:[kwæf] vt.& vi.一饮而尽;畅饮

British:[ˈbrɪtɪʃ] n.(总称)英国人 adj.英国的

Irish:[ˈaɪrɪʃ] n.爱尔兰人 adj.爱尔兰的

Germans:[ˈdʒɜ:mənz] n.德国人

白宫计划将阿片类药物危机列为全国紧急状态。这种担忧是正确的:在合法和非法的形式下,阿片类药物每十六分钟就会杀死一个美国人。但对阿片类药物的关注已经超过了对另一类物质危害的关注,这种物质更常见也更致命。2006至1010年间,平均每年有106765个美国人因酒精相关的原因而死,像是肝脏疾病、酒精中毒、醉酒驾驶等,这一数目是2015年全年死于所有药物过量人数的两倍以上,是阿片过量致死人数的三倍还不止。尽管相比于爱泡吧的英国人和爱尔兰人,以及酷爱啤酒的德国人,美国人平均摄入酒精量要少一些,但是他们现在喝酒比自己过去凶得多。

[2]On August 9th, researchers found that the share of Americans who are considered “high-risk”tipplers—women who, in any given week, have at least four drinks in a single day, or men who have five drinks—increased by nearly 30% in the period studied.

tippler:['tɪplə(r)]:n.酒徒;酒鬼

8月9日,研究人员发现,那些被认为高风险的翻车机的美国人中,在任何一周内每天都至少要喝四杯酒的女性,或者是喝五杯酒的男性,研究期间其比例增加了近30%。

[3]Anne Case and Angus Deaton, two (married) economists at Princeton University, roll alcohol poisonings together with opioid deaths andsuicidesinto what they call "deaths ofdespair". Having sufferedlurchingeconomic and social change, they argue, white folk with high-schooldiplomasor less have turned to opioids and alcohol forcomfort. Suchanguishis what they believeunderpinsa risingmortalityrate among middle-aged white Americans, even as that rate falls in other developed countries. Is the rise in problem drinking part of the same phenomenon?

suicide:[ˈsuɪˌsaɪd] n.自杀;自杀行为;;自杀者 vt.自杀 adj.自杀的

despair:[dɪˈsper] n.绝望;使人绝望的人(或事物) vi.绝望

lurch:[lɜrtʃ]v.倾斜;摇晃;东倒西歪; n.突然倾斜;(突然感到)兴奋或失望

His heart gave a lurch when he saw her.

他见到她时心怦然一跳。

diploma:[dɪˈploʊmə] 毕业文凭;学位证书;公文;奖状

She has a diploma in education.

她取得了教育学文凭。

comfort:[ˈkʌmfərt] 舒适,安慰

anguish:[ˈæŋgwɪʃ] 痛苦;苦恼;伤心

underpin:[ˌʌndərˈpɪn] 用砖石结构等从下面支撑(墙等);加固(墙等)的基础;加强…的基础

mortality:[mɔ:rˈtæləti] 死亡数,死亡率

安妮·凯斯和安格斯·迪顿是普林斯顿大学的两位已婚经济学家,他们将酒精中毒、阿片类死亡和自杀归为“绝望的死亡”。他们认为,那些文化程度高中及以下的白人,遭受着经济动荡和社会变迁,转而从阿片类药物和酒精寻求安慰。他们认为这种痛苦使得美国中年的白人死亡率不断上升,而其他发达国家的死亡率在下降。酗酒中人数的上升是不是属于同样的现象?

[4]Not obviously. Opioid overdoses are killing more white males than any other group. But heavy drinking seems to be increasing most not amongmiddle-agedwhites, but the elderly and certainminoritygroups. Over the period measured by theJAMAstudy, theprevalenceofalcoholismamong Americans over 65 jumped 107%, though from a low base. Among black Americans it rose 93%: a larger share of blacks than whites are now considered to suffer from alcoholism. Women are alsohitting the bottleharder.Whereas5% of women were found to meet thecriteriafor alcoholism in 2001-02, in 2012-13 that number rose to 9%.

middle-aged:['mɪdl eɪdʒd] adj.中年的;适合于中年人的;具有中年人特点的

minority:[maɪˈnɔ:rəti] 少数;少数民族;未成年

JAMA:Journal of the American Medical Association 美国医学协会杂志

prevalence:[ˈprevələns] n.流行;盛行;普遍;(疾病等的)流行程度

alcoholism:[ˈælkəhɔ:lɪzəm] n.酗酒;酒精中毒

hit the bottle:喝醉酒

After she died he began to hit the bottle.

她死之后,他开始酗酒。

whereas:[ˌweərˈæz] 然而;鉴于

criteria:[kraɪ'tɪərɪə] n.(批评、判断等的)标准,准则( criterion的名词复数 );(criterion的复数)

并不显然。相比于其他组,阿片类药物服用过量造成更多的白人男性死亡。但是大部分酗酒人数的增长不是来自中年白人,而是源于老年人和某些少数群体。美国医学协会的研究测量期间,在美国65岁以上人群酒精中毒的患病率上升了107%,尽管其基数本就不大。在美国黑人中,这个数目上升了93%:现在认为黑人中的酗酒比例大于白人中酗酒比例。女性也在天天醉酒。2001-2002年间女性中被发现达到酒精中毒标准的占比是5%,而2012-2013年间这个数字却上升到了9%。

[5]Previous studies suggest that Americans who drink heavily tend to drink very heavily indeed.Analysisby Phillip Cook, a professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, published in 2007 suggested that whereas 30% of Americans did not drink at all in 2001-02, 10% of Americans—or about 24m—had an average often drinks a day. He believes such habits would not look different today.

analysis:[əˈnælɪsɪs] n.分析,分解

过去的研究表明,那些酗酒的美国人往往都确实喝得非常严重。杜克大学桑福德公共政策学院的教授菲力普·库克2007年发表了一个分析报告。该报告表明表明,尽管2001-2002年间,有30%的美国人根本不喝酒,但10%的,或者说2400万的美国人,平均每天都要喝一杯酒。他认为这样的习惯今天也不会有改变。

[6]Bridget Grant, anepidemiologistat theNIAAAand the JAMA study’s principal author, blames the rise in drinking largely on differentmanifestationsof stress. For women, that pressure mightstem fromtheir increased participation in theworkforce. “It may be that women are finding it difficult to both manage their families and their work, which leads to stress, whichinvitesdrinking,” Dr Grant says.

epidemiologist:[ˌepɪˌdi:mɪ'ɒlədʒɪst] n.流行病学家

NIAAA:National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 全国防止酒精滥用与酒精中毒研究所

manifestation:[ˌmænɪfeˈsteɪʃn]n.表示,显示;示威

stem from:出于;来自,起源于,由…造成

workforce:[ˈwɜ:rkfɔ:rs] n.全体员工;(国家或行业等)劳动力;劳动大军;劳动人口

invite:[ɪnˈvaɪt] 招致;邀请;请求

布丽奇特·格兰特,全国防止酒精滥用与酒精中毒研究所的流行病学家,美国医学协会杂志的主要作者,认为酗酒人数的增长很大程度归咎于压力的不同表现。对于女性来说,这种压力可能来源于她们在职场中的参与度上升。格兰特医生说:“女性发现她们难以兼顾家庭和事业,这导致了压力,压力又引发了酗酒。”

[7]The upshot is that, for the first time since the early 1970s, the mortality rate associated with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis rose dramatically between 2009 and 2013. The decline in mortality rates related to cardiovascular diseases and stroke— both of which can be brought on by heavy drinking—recently slowed.Mitigating the opioid epidemicis critical, but curbing heavy drinking is just as pressing.

upshot:[ˈʌpʃɒt] n.结果

liver cirrhosis:<医>肝硬化;慢性间质性肝炎

dramatically:[drə'mætɪklɪ] adv.戏剧性地,引人注目地

cardiovascular:[ˌkɑ:diəʊˈvæskjələ(r)] adj.心血管的

stroke:[stroʊk] 中风;击球

mitigating:[ˈmɪtɪgeɪtɪŋ] v.减轻,缓和( mitigate的现在分词 )

epidemic:[ˌepɪˈdemɪk] n.流行病;迅速的传播、生长或发展;风尚等的流行 adj.流行性的;极为盛行的

critical:[ˈkrɪtɪkəl] adj.关键的;批评的,爱挑剔的;严重的;极重要的

curbing:['kɜ:bɪŋ] v.限制,克制,抑制( curb的现在分词 )

pressing:[ˈpresɪŋ] adj.紧迫的,紧急的;迫切的,急迫的;恳切的 n.压,压制

其结果是,2009年至2013年间酒精相关的肝硬化死亡率急剧上升,自上世纪70年代初以来这种现象还是首次出现。心血管疾病和中风的死亡率的下降最近放缓了,这两种疾病都可能由酗酒引发。减少阿片类药物的传播固然重要,但限制酗酒也同样紧迫。

酗酒,是过度饮酒而无法自制。有时酗酒不是因为饮酒者本身多么爱酒,而是如文中所说,将酒作为巨大压力下的发泄。一杯杯下去,或许可以获得片刻的放松和欢愉,但却是以损害健康为代价的。虽说一醉解千愁,醒来之后,所有要面对的事一件也没有消失,自己却未必还有解决的能力。

醉生梦死,醉不能让人生,却可以让人死。

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