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大学英语精读(第三版) 第五册: unit5B The Breakthroughs in Medicine(1)

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The Breakthroughs in Medicine

医学上的突破
James V. McConnell
詹姆斯·V·麦康奈尔
I read with great delight Lewis Thomas's "The Medical Lessons of History" (July 3). It is good to know that such a wise and scholarly physician believes that we can learn from our past mistakes, and that he has some hope for the future of the medical sciences. It is a pity, however, that Dr. Thomas seems not to have learned the real lesson that history offers us — namely, that the "great breakthroughs" in any technology are always preceded by a radical change in how we view ourselves, and how we behave.
我怀着极为喜悦的心情阅读了刘易斯·托马斯的《医学的历史教训》(7月3日)。得知这样一位睿智博学的内科大夫相信,我们可以从过去的错误中吸取教训,得知他对医学科学的未来怀有一些希望,是一件好事。然而,遗憾的是,托马斯大夫似乎并没有弄懂历史为我们提供的真正教训——那就是,在任何技术取得重大突破之前,总会有一种我们如何看待自己和我们如何行动方面的剧变。
Take penicillin, for example. As Dr. Thomas points out, its benefits were denied us for a decade after its discovery by Sir Alexander Fleming. Dr Thomas holds that the medical doctors failed to put penicillin to use because they "disbelieved" it could do what plainly it did. Well, that’s a nice way of explaining matters. But in truth Fleming's colleagues ignored him for 10 years because they refused to accept scientific data showing that penicillin "worked". Just as a century earlier, the medical leaders in Vienna refused to accept Semmelweiss's studies showing that the death rate for childbed fever1 could be cut from about 26% to about 2% if the attending physicians would only wash their hands before delivering babies.In fact, medical doctors (like most of us) are highly reluctant to judge their actions solely in terms of the objective consequences of what they do. Like most other humans, MDs usually prefer that they be evaluated according to their intentions and feelings. Any reader who doubts my contention might remember that, in malpractice suits, the physician's defense typically is, "I followed standard medical procedure," rather than,"I did what was necessary to cure the patient." Just ask your own family physician some time what his or her own particular "cure rate" is for a given medical problem --- and demand statistical evidence to backup the claim. My guess is that you will shortly be dismissed as a patient.
以青霉素为例。正如托马斯大夫指出的,在亚历山大·弗莱明爵士发现青霉素后的十年中,我们一直未能享受到它的好处。托马斯大夫认为,当时的医生之所以不使用青霉素是因为他们“不相信”青霉素能产生它显然能产生的效力。啊,这倒是解释事物的一种好方式。但事实上,弗莱明的同事们之所以忽视了他十年之久,是因为他们拒绝接受表明青霉素“有效”的科学数据。正像在那之前一个世纪之时,维也纳的医学界泰斗们拒绝接受泽梅尔魏斯的研究一样;泽梅尔魏斯的研究表明,如果主治医生在接生婴儿前只要洗洗手,产褥热的死亡率就可以从26%左右减至2%左右。事实上,医生们(像我们大多数人一样)极不愿意只凭他们所做事情的客观后果来评判他们的行为。像大多数别的人一样,医生通常更愿意人们根据他们的意愿和感情来评判他们。任何怀疑我论点的读者可能都会记得,在医疗事故诉讼案中,内科医生的典型辩护词是“我遵循了标准的医疗程序”,而不是“我做了治愈患者所必须的事情”。找个时间问一下你的家庭医生,问一下他或她本人在某一医学难题上的“治愈率”——并要求看一看证实其说法的统计数据。我的猜想是,你很快就会作为不受欢迎的病人被他抛弃。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
delight [di'lait]

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n. 高兴,快乐
v. (使)高兴,(使)欣喜

 
scholarly ['skɔləli]

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adj. 学究气的,学者派头的 名词scholar的形容

 
physician [fi'ziʃən]

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n. 内科医生

 
radical ['rædikəl]

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adj. 激进的,基本的,彻底的
n. 激进分

 
evidence ['evidəns]

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n. 根据,证据
v. 证实,证明

联想记忆
pity ['piti]

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n. 同情,怜悯,遗憾,可惜
v. 同情,怜悯

 
particular [pə'tikjulə]

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adj. 特殊的,特别的,特定的,挑剔的
n.

联想记忆
reluctant [ri'lʌktənt]

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adj. 不情愿的,勉强的

 
penicillin [.peni'silin]

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n. 青霉素

 
defense [di'fens]

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n. 防卫,防卫物,辩护
vt. 防守

 

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