20180501

Noel Conway right to die case back at Appeal Court
US Appeals Court米連邦高等裁判所、米連邦高裁
A terminally ill man who is challenging the law on assisted suicide has asked judges to acknowledge his "basic right to die" and to envisage themselves in his position.
challenge the law法律に異議を唱える
Noel Conway, 68, was speaking before his case is heard at the Court of Appeal. He has motor neurone disease (MND), an incurable, progressive, muscle-wasting condition.
Diagnosed in 2014, he is in a wheelchair and has almost no movement below his neck.
He wants a doctor to be allowed to prescribe him a lethal dose of drugs when he feels life has become unbearable.
Mr Conway spoke to me at his home in Shropshire, where he lives with his wife Carol.
His health has deteriorated since he launched his court action early last year.
He now depends on a ventilator round the clock - except when eating and washing - because the muscles, which enable him to breathe, are wasting away.
round the clock24時間ぶっ通しでwaste away【句自動】衰弱する
'Greatest fear'
He is able to make only slight movements with the back of his right hand, which he uses to operate a carer alarm.
Mr Conway told me: "The greatest fear I have is still being alive but not able to use my body.
"I want to end my life with dignity, cleanly and in full consciousness; I don't want to linger on for weeks."
linger【自動】長居する、居残る、ぐずぐずする
He told me he is registered with Dignitas, the Swiss group which offers assisted suicide, but says travelling there would be difficult and he would need help, so does not regard this as viable.
viable【形】実行可能な
Mr Conway said his main option, when the time comes, would be to ask for his ventilator to be switched off.
Evidence given in the High Court from Mr Conway's palliative care consultant said medication could be given at this time that prevents patients from becoming uncomfortable or distressed during the process of dying.
palliative【名】一時しのぎ（の手段）《医》苦痛緩和剤palliative care苦痛緩和治療、緩和ケア
But Mr Conway said he did not want to be given drugs that left him "dosed up" in a semi-conscious state.
The law
Under the 1961 Suicide Act, anyone who assisted Mr Conway to die would be liable to up to 14 years in prison.
liable【形】〔法的に〕責任がある、責任を負うべき
Mr Conway's legal team say this violates his right to respect for his private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In a hearing in July 2017 they sought a judicial review of the current law, and a declaration of incompatibility with his rights under the ECHR.
incompatibility【名】両立し難いこと、不適合、性格の不一致、不和合性、相反すること
Lawyers for Mr Conway proposed that assisted dying should be available to people aged 18 and above, who were of sound mind, with fewer than six months to live, and that each application should be reviewed by a High Court judge.
In October 2017, the High Court rejected Mr Conway's application.
The judges agreed with government lawyers that the current legislation was necessary to protect the weak and vulnerable.
Before his illness Noel Conway was a keen skier, climber and cyclist
In 2015, MPs voted overwhelmingly against changing the law to allow assisted dying in England and Wales.
The High Court judges said that as the "conscience of the nation", Parliament was entitled to maintain a "clear bright-line rule" forbidding assisted suicide.
bright line輝線
In January 2018, the Court of Appeal gave leave to Mr Conway to challenge the High Court decision.
leave許可
Mr Conway is supported by the campaign group Dignity in Dying, whose chief executive Sarah Wootton said: "Over 65 million people around the world are now covered by assisted dying laws.
"Our elected representatives in the UK, however, continue to lag shamefully behind on this important issue and a dying man is giving up his final months to fight for the right to die on his own terms."
Two groups which oppose assisted dying - Care Not Killing and Not Dead Yet UK - will be represented in court.

Dr Peter Saunders, from Care Not Killing, said: "The blanket ban on assisted suicide is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
"I hope that the judges will once again dismiss this attempt to circumvent Parliament by refusing to change a law that has been debated and rejected on numerous occasions both at Westminster and Holyrood."
circumvent【他動】〔ずる賢い方法で問題・規制などを〕避ける、回避する

20180430

Dementia risk linked to some medicines
A study links the long-term use of some drugs with a higher risk of dementia.
In England, 1.5 to two million people are likely to be taking anticholinergics for depression, Parkinson's and bladder problems.
抗コリン作用薬
アセチルコリンがアセチルコリン受容体に結合するのを阻害する薬物のことである。抗コリン作動薬とも呼ばれる。この抗コリン作用によって副交感神経が抑制される。副交感神経遮断薬とも言われていたが、コリン作動性線維は副交感神経節後線維だけではない。代表的なものに、アトロピンやスコポラミンがある。これと逆の作用を示すのはコリン作動薬である。ベラドンナには、アトロピンやスコポラミンといった成分が含まれ、これらは抗コリン薬として用いられる。
University of East Anglia researchers found more cases of dementia in patients prescribed larger quantities of particular anticholinergics.
But experts said patients should not stop taking them, as their benefits may outweigh any risk.
The study found no risk with other anticholinergic medicines used to treat common conditions such as hay fever, travel sickness and stomach cramps.
枯れ草熱コソウネツ
What did the study look at?
The research, funded by Alzheimer's Society and published in the British Medical Journal, looked at the medical records of 40,770 patients aged from 65 to 99 with a diagnosis of dementia between April 2006 and July 2015 and compared them with those of 283,933 people without dementia.
It also analysed more than 27 million prescriptions - making it the biggest study of its kind into the long-term impact of anticholinergic drugs in relation to dementia.
What are anticholinergic drugs?
They block acetylcholine, a chemical messenger that carries signals across the nervous system.
Some are available on prescription only.
What should patients do if they take any of these drugs?
The most important thing is "not to panic", according to Dr Ian Maidment, from Aston University.
"Don't do anything suddenly. Don't stop taking your medication," he told the BBC.
"As a patient, if you are concerned about it, go and speak to your doctor or your pharmacist. You don't have to see them urgently."
Not taking prescribed drugs could have serious consequences, Dr Maidment said.
"Having untreated depression is also a risk as people can die from that, so it is a question of balancing risks," he added.
How have experts reacted?
Alzheimer's Society head of research Dr James Pickett told the BBC that compared with the risk of dementia being caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, the potential risk of an anticholinergic drug contributing to the onset of the disease was "quite small".
"We don't exactly know within those that are taking these drugs, who is at the increased risk and who isn't," he said.
Dr James Pickett said it was hard to say who may be affected
Dementia Research national director Prof Martin Rossor said: "It is important to be cautious about associations as they do not prove causation."
原因
Alzheimer's Research UK research director Dr Carol Routledge said: "The study didn't investigate what might cause this link between anticholinergics and dementia risk, and researchers will need to build on these findings in future studies."
Rob Howard, professor of old age psychiatry at University College London, said: "It is possible that use of some of these drugs may have actually been to treat the very earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, which can be associated with low mood and lower urinary tract infections, many years before the development of dementia."
Dr Parastou Donyai, associate professor of social and cognitive pharmacy at the University of Reading, said: "This type of study imagines that patients actually take their drugs as they were prescribed for them.
"But we know from other research that people with long-term health conditions really only take their medication as prescribed around half of the time - the other half, people either take more or less of their medication or not at all."

20180428

Ethics debate as pig brains kept alive without a body
The scientists used pumps, heaters, and bags of artificial blood to restore circulation to the pig brains
Researchers at Yale University have restored circulation to the brains of decapitated pigs, and kept the organs alive for several hours.
Their aim is to develop a way of studying intact human brains in the lab for medical research.
Although there is no evidence that the animals were aware, there is concern that some degree of consciousness might have remained.
Details of the study were presented at a brain science ethics meeting held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda in Maryland on 28 March.
The research has also been reported on this week in the MIT Technology Review.
The work, by Prof Nenad Sestan of Yale University, was discussed as part of an NIH investigation of ethical issues arising from neuroscience research in the US.
Prof Sestan explained that he and his team experimented on more than 100 pig brains.
They discovered that he could restore their circulation using a system of pumps, heaters, and bags of artificial blood.
As a result the researchers were reportedly able to keep the cells in the brain alive and capable of normal activity for as long as 36 hours.
Prof Sestan is said to have described the result as "mind-boggling". If this could be repeated with human brains, researchers would be able to use them to test out new treatments for neurological disorders.
But Prof Sestan is among the first to raise potential ethical concerns. These include whether such brains have any consciousness and if so deserve special protection, or whether their technique could or should be used by individuals to extend their lifespans - by transplanting their brains when their bodies wear out.
The Yale University researchers recognise that their work raises potential ethical concerns
In a commentary published in the Journal Nature this week, Prof Sestan and 15 other leading US neuroscientists called for clear regulation to guide them in their work.

"If researchers could create brain tissue in the laboratory that might appear to have conscious experiences or subjective phenomenal states, would that tissue deserve any of the protections routinely given to human or animal research subjects?", the researchers ask in the commentary.
subjective【形】主観の想像上の
"This question might seem outlandish. Certainly, today's experimental models are far from having such capabilities. But various models are now being developed to better understand the human brain, including miniaturised, simplified versions of brain tissue grown in a dish from stem cells. And advances keep being made."
The researchers say that ways of measuring consciousness need to be developed and strict limits set for them to be able to continue their work with the public's support.
Prof Colin Blakemore, of the School of Advance Study at the University of London, backs the research team's call for a public debate on the issue.
"The techniques, even to a researcher, sound pretty ghoulish - so it is very, very important that there should be a public discussion about this, and not least because the researchers who have some investment can tell the public why it would be so important to develop such techniques," he told BBC News.
"There is a paradox here, and that is - the better such methods are at maintaining a whole brain, fully functional but without connection to a body, the more useful that would be for research purposes. But the more likely it would also be for the brain to have some sentience and consciousness, which would be deeply worrying".
sentience【名】感覚性
Prof Blakemore said that he was "very uneasy about the quest for immortality" by those considering preserving their brains until surgery advances, in order to place them in a new body.
uneasy【形】不安な
"Our planet is already overpopulated. You need space for young people and new ideas, and the notion of desperately clinging on to any mechanism possible for human beings living forever, I find very unsavoury."
unsavory【形】〔食べ物が〕まずい、嫌な臭いの〔仕事などが〕嫌な、つまらない

20180427

Fake cancer causes belief 'rife', research suggests
Drinking from plastic bottles and using microwave ovens are some of the fake causes of cancer people believe, research suggests.
rife【形】〔好ましくないもの・事が〕はびこって、流行して
In a survey of 1,330 people in England, published in the European Journal of Cancer, most people correctly said smoking was a cause.
But increasing numbers are getting the risk factors wrong.
Smoking, being overweight and overexposure to UV radiation are the biggest preventable causes of cancer.
Cancer Research UK said about four in 10 cases of cancer could be prevented through lifestyle changes and it was important to have the right information to "separate the wheat from the chaff".
chaff【名】《植物》〔穀物の〕もみ殻
separate wheat from chaff《separate （the） wheat from （the） chaff》〈英〉良いものと悪いものとを区別［選別］する、価値のあるものとそうでないものを区別［選別］する、役に立つ人と役に立たない人を区別
Researchers at University College London and the University of Leeds carried out the survey and found that more than 40% wrongly thought that stress and food additives caused cancer.
One-third incorrectly believed that electromagnetic frequencies (35%) and eating genetically modified (GM) food (34%) were risk factors, while 19% thought microwave ovens and 15% said drinking from plastic bottles caused cancer, despite a lack of good scientific evidence.
'Worrying'
Smoking was, correctly, selected by 88% of those surveyed, 80% picked passive smoking and 60% said sunburn were causes of cancer - all proven.
Believing in fake causes of cancer did not mean people were more likely to have risky lifestyle habits, but those who were better informed about the proven causes of cancer were more likely not to smoke, the study found.
They were also more likely to eat more fruit and vegetables.
Dr Samuel Smith, from the University of Leeds, said: "It's worrying to see so many people endorse risk factors for which there is no convincing evidence.
"Compared to past research, it appears the number of people believing in unproven causes of cancer has increased since the start of the century, which could be a result of changes to how we access news and information through the internet and social media."
He added: "It's vital to improve public education about the causes of cancer if we want to help people make informed decisions about their lives and ensure they aren't worrying unnecessarily."
Clare Hyde, from Cancer Research UK, said: "There is no guarantee against getting cancer - but by knowing the biggest risk factors we can stack the odds in our favour to help reduce our individual risk of the disease, rather than wasting time worrying about fake news."
odds in favor 勝つ見込み、勝算、勝ち目

20180426

Does vaginal seeding boost health?
Should Caesarean-section babies be smeared with a sample of their mother's vaginal fluids as soon as they are born?
"Vaginal seeding" is not mainstream medicine, but it is growing in popularity.
The idea is to give these newborns something they missed when they emerged into the world - the good bacteria that live in their mother's vagina.
A swab is taken of mum's vaginal fluid, which is then rubbed on to her child's skin and mouth.
The hope is this microbial gift will boost their child's long-term health - particularly by reducing their risk of immune disorders.
It is a crucial time.
We might have been sterile in the womb, but in our first few moments of life an invisible bond is being established between baby and bacteria.
It's a relationship that will last a lifetime, and the first contact is as important as a first date.
"The first time a baby's own immune system has to respond are to those first few bacteria," says Prof Peter Brocklehurst, from the University of Birmingham.
"That we believe is important for, in some way, setting the baby's immune system."
There is a noticeable difference between the microbiomes - the collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi and archaea - of babies born vaginally and by Caesarean section.
archaea【名】《生物》古細菌、始原菌、後生細菌、アーキア
生物の分類の一つで、sn-グリセロール1-リン酸のイソプレノイドエーテル（他生物はsn-グリセロール3-リン酸の脂肪酸エステル）より構成される細胞膜に特徴付けられる生物群
It lasts for about the first year of life.
A baby born vaginally is first exposed and colonised by microbes from their mother's vagina and gut.
But for Caesarean-section babies, the first exposure "if they're lucky", says Prof Brocklehurst, comes from the very different organisms on their mother's skin.
He is running the Baby Biome Study to see if these different microbial colonists on Caesarean-section babies explain why they have higher rates of diseases such as asthma and allergies later in life.
The microbiome
You're more microbe than human - if you count all the cells in your body, only 43% are human
The rest is our microbiome and includes bacteria, viruses, fungi and single-celled archaea
The human genome - the full set of genetic instructions for a human being - is made up of 20,000 instructions called genes
But add all the genes in our microbiome together and the figure comes out at between two million and 20 million microbial genes
It's known as the second genome and is linked to diseases including allergy, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson's, whether cancer drugs work and even depression and autism
More than half your body is not human
inflammatory bowel disease炎症性大腸炎
Obviously our bodies do attack the dangerous ones - but the overall relationship between microbial and immune cells is about more than conflict, it's a far deeper dynamic.
Graham Rook, a professor of medical microbiology at University College London, says the microbiome is the immune system's teacher.
"This is a learning system, it is like the brain. Now, the thing about the adaptive immune system is it needs data, just like the brain needs data."
And that "data" is coming from microbes and the chemicals they produce. They provoke a reaction in the immune system that can last a lifetime.
Prof Rook says: "The initial setting up of the immune system occurs during the first weeks and months of life.
"We know that because there's a window of opportunity during those first months of life when if you give antibiotics you can disrupt the microbiota and then in adulthood those individuals are more likely to have immunological problems and are more likely to put on weight."
This is the idea that some parents are buying into when they perform vaginal seeding.
buy into【句動】〈話〉～を嫌々認める
Do dogs boost a baby's microbiome?
Even the type of home you bring your baby back to may affect their long-term health.
Research has shown households with dogs have lower rates of asthma.

The idea is they help us swim against the hygiene tide by traipsing their muddy paws round the house and sticking their noses into everything.
swim against the current流れ［時流・時代の潮流・時流・時勢・時の勢い・大勢・世間の風潮］に逆らう
traipse【自他動】〔当てもなく〕ブラブラ歩く
"The speculation has always been that the dog brings, from the outside, microbes that are helpful in stimulating the infant's immune system," says Prof Anita Kozyrskyj, from the University of Alberta.
She is analysing data on about 3,500 families in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development Study.
One of its findings is that the microbiomes of three-month-olds is far richer and more diverse (a good sign) if there is a pet in the house.
Two types of beneficial bacteria seemed to be more common.
"The Oscillospira have been associated with leanness and the Ruminococcus have been associated with reduced risk of allergic disease."
オシリバクター属細菌 ルミノコッカス属は、草食動物の胃などに存在するグラム陽性菌
Breastfeeding or formula, antibiotics and method of delivery all affect the microbiome.
But studies into the microbiome and long-term health have often been too small to be definitive.
The Baby Biome study is aiming to collect faecal samples from 80,000 babies.
That will be a lot of soiled nappies to analyse, but it will be an unparalleled resource for interrogating the impact of decisions made around birth.
soiled【形】〔表面が〕汚れた おむつ
Many of those will be out of parents' hands.
No doctor or parent would hold back on life-saving antibiotics because of an uncertain long-term impact.
Breast milk feeds gut bacteria
This study will let scientists see which microbes the body first hooks up, what that means years later and, tantalisingly, whether damaging relationships with the wrong bacteria can be repaired.
tantalizing【形】興味・欲望をかき立てる、
The faecal samples will end up at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge and in the hands of microbial enthusiasts such as Dr Trevor Lawley.
"My latest favourite microorganism is Bifidobacterium," he says.
ビフィズス菌
"It is one of the first bugs to colonise humans early in life, and we believe they feed off sugars in the breast milk.
feed off【句動】〔皿など〕から取って食べる
"So, there's a very sophisticated evolutionary set-up where the bugs are passed from the mother to child and the mother nurtures that bug to establish the early microbiome."
Dr Lawley's lab will be trying to uncover every microbe that colonises a newborn and what that means later in life.
He thinks the end result of the project will be to change policy around avoidable antibiotic use and Caesarean sections.
Or, alternatively, "maybe we could culture the bugs from the mums to purposefully colonise the babies to allow their microbiome to mature and develop properly" - in other words, a scientifically controlled version of vaginal seeding.
So are some parents just ahead of the game?
Prof Brocklehurst says: "At the moment some parents believe this hypothesis enough that they are doing their own vaginal seeding.
"Now, there could be real downsides to that."
One concern is dangerous bugs could be transferred.
Up to a quarter of women are thought to carry group-B strep in their vagina, and exposing babies to this bacterium could be fatal.
B群レンサ球菌（GBS）感染症
Prof Brocklehurst says: "It too early to start introducing bacteria artificially into the baby until we've got a good handle on how likely this is to be the mechanism or not."

20180425

Parents facing 'unfair child abuse claims' over bruising
Chelsea's son was taken off her for a year, until his bruising was found to be the result of a medical condition
Parents are being investigated for possible child abuse because of the misinterpretation of guidelines on bruising in babies, it's claimed.
Official guidelines from health watchdog NICE for hospital workers suggest such bruising is very uncommon.
University of Central Lancashire research suggested the guidelines mean social services are investigating parents too often.
Its research said more than a quarter of babies are bruised accidentally.
One mother had her baby removed from her care for a year by social services, until its bruising was found to have been caused by a medical condition.
'Exaggerated effects'
Lead researcher Prof Andy Bilson told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that "social workers are in danger of having to take decisions based on really misleading interpretations of research".
The NICE guidelines are used by local authorities to draw up their own policies.
Some 91 of the 152 councils in England have specific guidance on how staff should respond to possible abuse.
More than three-quarters (77%) of these do not give front-line staff such as nurses, health visitors and GPs the freedom to make judgements about the causes of a bruise, the university's researchers said.
In five local authorities, a formal child protection investigation must be undertaken when a single bruise in a pre-mobile child - who cannot crawl or walk - is discovered.
This is despite research from 2015 showing accidental bruising occurred in 27% of pre-mobile babies - those that cannot crawl or walk - monitored over a seven to eight-week period, researchers said.
Chelsea and Theo's story
Chelsea Kirtley had her baby Theo removed from her and the father's care for more than a year.
She initially took him to the GP worried that the bruising was a sign of meningitis.
But when further marks appeared, Stockton Council social services accused them of harming their child.
"It felt they were out to get us," Chelsea explained. "We got escorted by police off the hospital ward, with all the [other] parents looking at us."
Her son was placed into the care of his aunt, and then his grandmother.
The case was only dropped after Ms Kirtley had Theo examined by a geneticist, who diagnosed him with hypermobility syndrome - a condition that causes people to bruise easily.
geneticist【名】遺伝学者
過剰可動性症候群 全身の複数関節に過可動性を来す症候群で、変形や不安定性による機能障害を来す。全身の複数の関節過可動から関節脱臼、亜脱臼、関節の変形へと進行することがある。
But she says the stress caused her to split from the father and leave her job.
She was made homeless and now lives with Theo and her mother in a hostel.
hostel【名】ホステル、ユースホステル、簡易宿泊所
The council said it "relied heavily on medical views throughout" its assessment of Theo, and that the safety of a child always has to be its number one consideration.
The tragedies of children such as Victoria Climbie and Baby P, in which warning signs were missed by social workers, are thought to have changed how local authorities deal with cases of bruising.
Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck used to be a social worker in Sunderland, which has some of the strictest guidance.
"I never came across a case where a [pre-mobile] baby had a bruise, and that bruise was purely accidental," she said.
"I think you should always err on the side of caution."
err【自動】過ちを犯すerr on the side of caution慎重過ぎるぐらい慎重になる、注意し過ぎるぐらい注意する、用心し過ぎるくらい用心する、安全側に倒す
She said the public would want social services to "do the right thing and make sure they had a full medical assessment to find out whether or not this was deliberate".
'Other dangers'
Prof Bilson acknowledges social workers have a duty to look into incidents of bruising, but said some parents would be put off from taking their children to see a GP for fear of being investigated - stopping the child from getting the medical care it needs.
"If this puts into people's minds even a hesitation of taking their child to a doctors, there's a real chance sooner or later some child will die due to this policy," he said.
NICE did not comment on the claim its guidelines could be misleading.
It said its original advice was aimed at medical professionals working in hospitals.
New guidance has been issued by NICE aimed more at social workers and teachers.
 

20180420

Bajau people 'evolved bigger spleens' for free-diving
In a striking example of natural selection, the Bajau people of South-East Asia have developed bigger spleens for diving, a study shows.
The Bajau are traditionally nomadic and seafaring, and survive by collecting shellfish from the sea floor.
Scientists studying the effect of this lifestyle on their biology found their spleens were larger than those of related people from the region.
The bigger spleen makes more oxygen available in their blood for diving.
The researchers have published their results in the academic journal Cell.
Located close to the stomach, the fist-sized spleen removes old cells from the blood and acts as a biological "scuba tank" during long dives.
The Bajau people live across the southern Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and, according to rough estimates, number about one million people.
"For possibly thousands of years, [they] have been living on house boats, travelling from place to place in the waters of South-East Asia and visiting land only occasionally. So everything they need, they get from the sea," first author Melissa Ilardo, from the University of Copenhagen, told the BBC's Inside Science programme.
They were mentioned in writings from 1521 by the Venetian explorer Antonio Pigafetta, who was part of the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe. They are known for an extraordinary ability to hold their breath.
"When they're diving in the traditional way, they dive repeatedly for about eight hours a day, spending about 60% of their time underwater. So this could be anything from 30 seconds to several minutes, but they're diving to depths of over 70m," said Dr Ilardo.
Astonishingly, these deep dives are performed only with a wooden mask or goggles and a weight belt. Dr Ilardo explained that the spleen was an obvious candidate for studying potential adaptations to this aquatic lifestyle.
"There's a human dive response that's triggered by holding your breath and submerging yourself in water. You can trigger it by submerging your face in cold water," she explained.
"Your heart rate slows down, you have peripheral vasoconstriction where the blood vessels in your extremities get smaller to preserve the oxygenated blood for your vital organs and then the last thing is a contraction of the spleen.
peripheral vasoconstriction末梢血管（の）収縮
extremity【名】極度、先端窮地四肢
"The spleen is a reservoir for oxygenated red blood cells, so when it contracts, it gives you an oxygen boost. It's like a biological scuba tank."
Dr Ilardo took a portable ultrasound machine to an area of Indonesia where the Bajau live. "I asked very nicely for the people to let me look at their spleens," she said.
The results show that divers and non-divers from the Bajau community have similar sized spleens. This helped to show that the enlargement wasn't simply a consequence of regular diving.
But when the researchers compared the Bajau to a neighbouring group called the Saluan, who traditionally lead a farming lifestyle, they found the Bajau had spleens that were 50% larger on average.
The team was also able to find an apparent genetic basis for the size difference. They compared the genomes (the total complement of DNA in the nuclei of human cells) of the Bajau, the Saluan and Han Chinese for areas that had been under natural selection.
"We could ask the question: are there any genetic variants - are there any mutations - that are at a much higher frequency, that have changed their frequency specifically in the Bajau compared to other populations," said co-author Prof Rasmus Nielsen, from the University of California, Berkeley.
at significant frequencyかなりの頻度で
The results of this "selection scan" turned up 25 sites in the genome that differed significantly in the Bajau compared to the other groups. Of these, one site on a gene known as PDE10A was found to correlate with the Bajau's larger spleen size, even after accounting for confounding factors like age, sex, and height.
confound【他動】〔人を〕混乱させる
Bajau people have dispersed across several countries in South-East Asia
In mice, PDE10A is known for regulating a thyroid hormone that controls spleen size, lending support for the idea that the Bajau might have evolved the spleen size necessary to sustain long, frequent dives.
In 2014, a different team published evidence for a genetic adaptation to living at high altitudes in Tibetan populations. In that case, the gene variant in question appeared to have originated in an ancient population known as the Denisovans, who appear to have been a "sister" population to the Neanderthals.
That gene variant was probably introduced into modern humans through ancient interbreeding (a process known as "introgression"), and then rose to high frequencies on the Tibetan plateau because of the advantage it conferred.
The team studying the Bajau also investigated whether something similar could have happened in this case, but found no evidence for such a link.
"It's not clear how long the Bajau have had this lifestyle, or when exactly the adaptation arose give the genetic data that we have now," said Dr Ilardo.
However, the data do show that the Bajau diverged from the non-diving Saluan around 15,000 years ago. According to Dr Ilardo, this was "plenty" of time to develop the aquatic adaptation.
Rasmus Nielsen added: "It's a wonderful example of how humans can adapt to their local environments, but there may be some medical interest in this. There's been a lot of interest in understanding hypoxia adaptations - adaptations to low oxygen levels."
hypoxia【名】《病理》低酸素症［状態］
He said that, compared with the case of high altitude adaptations in Tibetans, the Bajau represented a potentially more medically relevant example: "This is acute low oxygen... if you look at trauma medicine, one of the most important factors is the response to low oxygen levels.
"By studying the Bajau, we can figure out: what are some of the genes that help predict differences in people in how they respond to acute low oxygen levels?"

20180419

Will China beat the world to nuclear fusion and clean energy?
In a world with an ever-increasing demand for electricity and a deteriorating environment, Chinese scientists are leading the charge to develop what some see as the holy grail of energy.
lead the charge攻撃の先頭に立つ、先頭に立って非難する
The BBC's Stephen McDonell was given rare access to their facility in Anhui province.
Imagine limitless energy with virtually no waste at all: this is the lofty promise of nuclear fusion.
On Science Island in Eastern China's Anhui Province, there is a large gleaming metal doughnut encased in an enormous shiny, round box about as big as a two-storey apartment. This is the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (or EAST).
Inside, hydrogen atoms fuse and become helium which can generate heat at several times the temperature of the sun's core.
Powerful magnets then control the reaction, which could one day produce vast amounts of electricity if maintained.
Around the globe, they are trying to master nuclear fusion - in the United States, Japan, Korea, Brazil and European Union - but none can hold it steady for as long as the team in Anhui.
Right now that's 100 seconds and it gets longer every year. Here they're already talking about goals which are 10 times as long, at temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius.
But there's a reason why fusion has eluded scientists and engineers since the early advances in the Soviet Union in the 1950s.
It is really difficult.
Safe nuclear energy
Maintaining a limited fusion reaction in a controlled environment has been possible for more than 50 years and yet the duration is still a long way short of what would be needed to capture this vast heat and convert it to electricity.
fall a long way short of～にははるかに及ばない
The EAST system is a souped-up version of the original Russian design.
souped-up【形】馬力を上げた、高出力化した、
On the day we visit we watch a lively debate unfold in the control room. There are leakage problems - not material getting out but air being sucked into the vacuum within - and they need to find a solution.
A separate group is in walkie-talkie contact with the control room. They move around the configuration of pipes, electricity housing and stepladders surrounding the Tokamak, looking to patch the leak.
walkie-talkie【名】トランシーバー
When Xi Jinping visited here he wanted to know about the dangers of this technology, so we asked what they told China's president.
"A fusion reactor is quite safe compared with fission reactor," says Song Yuntao, deputy director at EAST.
"Magnetic confinement is controllable fusion. I can shut down the power supply and it's perfectly safe. There won't be any nuclear disaster."
Current nuclear reactors rely on fission and the splitting of an atom which leaves toxic waste that must be safely stored for potentially tens of thousands of years.
A nuclear fusion power plant would instead stem from the joining of two nuclei to make a single nucleus and then magnets inside the internal wall of the doughnut contain the reaction (called the plasma) inside the huge tube.
Crucially, we're told, this leaves almost no waste.
A hefty price tag
However the technology is not cheap.
It costs $15,000 a day just to turn on the machine and that's without the wages of hundreds of specialists, the construction of buildings and the like.
And yet the Chinese government is digging into its deep pockets to fund the project in the full knowledge that it could be decades before fusion is lighting up major cities.
dig deep into one's own pocket自分のポケットを奥までよく調べる
deep pocket深いポケット十分な富［資金］、金持ちの懐
"Fusion is going to require huge breakthroughs from scientists and engineers as well as a lot of financial backing from the government," Mr Song says.
"It's a project which costs so much but personally I think it's going to be great for the sustainable development of mankind."
Because it carries such a hefty price tag and because it is so hard, the pursuit of fusion is seeing a fair amount of international collaboration.
For example, China is one of the countries contributing to the ambitious International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in southern France which - apart from European nations - draws in India, Japan, Russia, South Korean and the United States. It is expected to start testing in 2025.
In the meantime China is also making leaps and bounds on its own.
by leaps and bounds〔進行・成長などが〕急速に、飛躍的に
The proposed next step for this team is to design a fully-fledged nuclear fusion test reactor capable of generating electricity. To eventually work properly it would have to be much bigger than what we've seen and able to contain a plasma reaction indefinitely rather than for a minute-and-a-half.
"The demand for energy is huge in every country and China has a roadmap for fusion-generated power," says Mr Song. "We want to complete the design for a test fusion reactor within five years. If we succeed it will be the world's first fusion reactor."
The eventual hope is that fusion might produce electricity in volumes beyond mankind's wildest dreams.
wildest dream途方もない夢、見果てぬ夢、泡沫の夢
It may be some way off but Beijing is taking the challenge very seriously meaning that, if it can get it to work, China could end up having the edge over all others when it comes to the power generation of the future.
way off遠く離れて、ずっと遠くに大きく外れて、全く間違って
edge 鋭さ、切れ味強み、競争力、優位性、優勢

​20180418

'Wake-up call' over liver disease risks due to weight
One in eight middle-aged adults in the UK could have a potentially serious form of liver disease - because they are overweight.

Scans of nearly 3,000 individuals from the UK Biobank research project showed that 12% had inflamed, fatty livers.
inflame真っ赤になる、赤く腫れる、炎症を起こす
The British Liver Trust said the "very alarming" findings were a 'wake-up call' because the condition can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure and death.
cirrhosis Greek kirrhos orange-coloured + -osis 【名】《病理》肝硬変
Hepatologists said there was a silent epidemic of fatty liver disease.
hepatologist【名】肝臓専門医
This is especially worrying because symptoms often do not emerge until permanent damage is done - but the condition is reversible if caught in time.
Back to normal
Frances Carroll, aged 52, from Oxford, was told she had fatty liver disease seven years ago.
At the time she weighed over 18 stone (116 kilos).
She lost 7 stone, and went down from a size 22 to a 12.
Frances said: "I was shocked when I was told my liver was diseased, but determined to do something about it. I started by eating more healthily and then combined that with physical activity - I'm delighted my liver is back to normal."
Frances now teaches fitness classes and does nutrition coaching.
She said: "Back in 2011 I would not have believed that I would end up as a personal trainer. I used to get out of breath when I walked any distance - now I run up hills!"
end up as結局最後には～に成り果てる、～で一生を終える
get out of breath息切れする、息が切れる
And she has had a new type of MRI scan which has showed her liver is healthy again.
The results of the MRI scanning study, led by scientists in Oxford, were announced at the International Liver Congress in Paris.
They were made possible by an innovative software analysis tool called LiverMultiScan, developed by Perspectum Diagnositics, a spin-out company from the University of Oxford.
Dr Rajarshi Banerjee, CEO of Perspectum Diagnostics said: "LiverMultiScan is a great example of a smart health technology discovered and developed by UK clinicians and scientists with clear benefits for patients, the NHS, and taxpayers.
"Whilst liver biopsy remains an important part of hepatology practice, clearly we need better non-invasive tools at our disposal to evaluate the nature and severity of liver disease."
at someone's disposal（人）が自由に［好きなように・勝手に］使える［できる］、（人）の思う［意の］ままに
Needle biopsies are the gold standard for assessing liver disease, but they are costly, invasive, painful and carry some health risks.
The software tool can be used in any MRI scanner but is not yet in routine clinical practice.
Southampton General is the first NHS hospital to use the new system outside of research.
David Breen, associate professor of radiology at University Hospital Southampton believes it could reduce the need for biopsies.

He said: "The scan gives a map of the entire liver as opposed to a needle-core biopsy which samples just one area and can be unpleasant.
as opposed to～とは対照的に、～に対立するものとして、～の対語として
"It also allows us to re-scan patients over time and see if they improve."
Previous studies had suggested that around one in 20 adults might have the potentially serious form of fatty liver disease known as NASH (non-alcoholic steatophepatitis).
This is where there is inflammation in and around the liver cells liver which, over time, can can lead to the build up of scar tissue known as fibrosis - eventually this can lead to cirrhosis.
But the scanning study suggests the proportion could be much higher.

Steve Ryder, consultant liver specialist in Nottingham said: "This study accords with what we are seeing on the ground - a lot of people are coming to hospital with significant liver disease because they are overweight."
on the ground 現場で
Ninety per cent of liver disease is reversible if caught in time.
Judi Rhys, chief executive of the British Liver Trust said: "Reducing alcohol is important which most people already know, but for fatty liver disease the key things are having a healthy weight and doing exercise."
 

20180416

Russian spy poisoning: Nerve agent inspectors back UK
The international chemical weapons watchdog has confirmed the UK's analysis of the type of nerve agent used in the Russian ex-spy poisoning.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons did not name the nerve agent as Novichok, but said it agreed with the UK's findings on its identity.
Russia, which denies it was behind the attack in Salisbury, called the allegations an "anti-Russian campaign".
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: "There can be no doubt what was used."
He added: "There remains no alternative explanation about who was responsible - only Russia has the means, motive and record."
But Maria Zakharova, from the Russian Foreign Ministry, said the allegations in relation to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal were a "clear anti-Russian campaign, the like of which we have not seen in the world for a long time in terms of its scale and lack of principles".
She accused the British authorities of ignoring the "norms of international law, the principles and laws of diplomacy, the elementary rules of human ethics".
And she claimed no one except for British authorities had seen the Skripals for more than a month.
She drew comparisons with the case of Alexander Litvinenko, the ex-KGB agent who died in 2006 in London, adding that at least a photograph of Litvinenko had appeared after his poisoning.
A team from the OPCW visited the UK on 19 March, 15 days after the Skripals were found slumped on a park bench in Salisbury and taken to hospital, along with a police officer who was among the first on the scene.
Ms Skripal was discharged from hospital on Monday but the 33-year-old has said her father is "still seriously ill".
The OPCW said it received information about the medical conditions of the Skripals and Det Sgt Nick Bailey, it collected their blood samples, and it gathered samples from the site in Salisbury.

Mr Johnson said the UK had invited the OPCW to test the samples "to ensure strict adherence to international chemical weapons protocols".
ensure adherence to～への順守を確保する
UK inspectors from the defence research facility at Porton Down in Wiltshire first identified the nerve agent as belonging to the Novichok group.
What are Novichok agents?
The name Novichok means "newcomer" in Russian, and applies to a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.
Novichok's existence was revealed by chemist Dr Vil Mirzayanov in the 1990s, via Russian media. He says the nerve agents were designed to escape detection by international inspectors.
Novichok agents are liquids, although others are thought to exist in solid form and could be dispersed as an ultra-fine powder.
Some of the agents are also said to be "binary weapons", meaning the nerve agent is typically stored as two less toxic chemical ingredients that are easier to handle.
When these are mixed, they react to produce the active toxic agent which can cause convulsions, shortness of breath, profuse sweating and nausea.
profuse【形】たっぷりの、豊富な、おびただしい、あふれんばかりの
The OPCW does identify the toxic chemical by its complex formula but only in the classified report that has not been made public.
complex formula 複雑な処方
In its summary, which has been published online, the report notes the toxic chemical was of "high purity".
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Landale said: "This is understood to strengthen the argument that this substance came from Russia because it is more likely to have been created by a state actor with the capability to make the nerve agent."
The report does not name the source of the nerve agent, a subject which is beyond the remit of the inspectors.
remit【名】〈英〉〔委員会・組織などに〕付託された権限
The UK has called for a UN Security Council meeting on the OPCW report, likely to be held next week.
 

20180414

Regular excess drinking can take years off your life, study finds
Regularly drinking above the UK alcohol guidelines can take years off your life, according to a major report.
The study of 600,000 drinkers estimated that having 10 to 15 alcoholic drinks every week could shorten a person's life by between one and two years.
And they warned that people who drink more than 18 drinks a week could lose four to five years of their lives.
The 2016 UK guidelines recommend no more than 14 units a week, which is six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine.
pint【名】約 500cc
Authors of the Lancet study said their findings backed up the new guidelines and also said they did not find an increased risk of death for light drinkers.
Scientists, who compared the health and drinking habits of alcohol drinkers in 19 countries, modelled how much life a person could expect to lose if they drank the same way for the rest of their lives from the age of 40.
They found people who drank the equivalent of about five to 10 drinks a week could shorten their lives by up to six months.
The study's authors also found drinking increased the risk of cardiovascular illness, with every 12.5 units of alcohol people drank above the guidelines raising the risk of:
Stroke by 14%
Fatal hypertensive disease by 24%
Heart failure by 9%
Fatal aortic aneurysm by 15%
Drinking alcohol was linked with a reduced risk of non-fatal heart disease, but scientists said this benefit was wiped out by a higher risk of other forms of the illness.
Previous studies have suggested that drinking red wine can be good for our hearts, although some scientists have suggested these benefits may be overhyped.
over-hype【他動】～を過度［派手］に宣伝する、～を大げさに騒ぎ立てる
Another Danish study found drinking three to four times a week was linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
"This study makes clear that on balance there are no health benefits from drinking alcohol, which is usually the case when things sound too good to be true," said Tim Chico, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield, who was not involved in the research.
"Although non-fatal heart attacks are less likely in people who drink, this benefit is swamped by the increased risk of other forms of heart disease including fatal heart attacks and stroke."
on balance結局
sound too good to be true
本当だと信じられないぐらい良い、素晴らしい◆何かが「あまりにも好調で信じ難いほどである
Recommended limits in Italy, Portugal, and Spain are almost 50% higher than the UK guidelines, and in the USA the upper limit for men is nearly double this.
But Victoria Taylor, senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, which partly funded the study, said this did not mean the UK "should rest on its laurels".
rest on one's laurels現在の栄光に満足する
"Many people in the UK regularly drink over what's recommended" she said.
"We should always remember that alcohol guidelines should act as a limit, not a target, and try to drink well below this threshold."
Dr Angela Wood, from the University of Cambridge, lead author of the study, said: "The key message of this research is that, if you already drink alcohol, drinking less may help you live longer and lower your risk of several cardiovascular conditions."

​

20180413

Why some cancers are 'born to be bad'
A groundbreaking study has uncovered why some patients' cancers are more deadly than others, despite appearing identical.
Francis Crick Institute scientists developed a way of analysing a cancer's history to predict its future.
The study on kidney cancer patients showed some tumours were "born to be bad" while others never became aggressive and may not need treating.
Cancer Research UK says the study could help patients get the best care.
"We don't really have tools to differentiate between those that need treatment and those that can be observed," said researcher and cancer doctor Samra Turajlic.
One cancer could kill quickly while a patient with a seemingly identical cancer could live for decades after treatment.
It means uncertainty for both the patient and the doctor.
It is most common in people in their 60s and 70s. Symptoms include:
Blood in your pee
Persistent pain in the lower back or side
Sometimes a lump or swelling in your side
The work, published in three papers in the journal Cell, analysed kidney cancers in 100 patients.
The team at the Crick performed a sophisticated feat of genetics to work out the cancer's history.

It works like a paternity or ancestry test on steroids.
paternity【名】父であること、父系
on steroids〔筋肉増強の〕ステロイド剤を使った〈話〉強化された、極端にした◆【用法】直前の場所や物の名前を修飾する。
As cancers grow and evolve, they become more mutated and, eventually, different parts of the tumour start to mutate in different ways.
Researchers take dozens of samples from different parts of the same tumour and then work out how closely related they are.
It allows scientists to piece together the evolutionary history of the whole tumour.
"That also tells us where the tumour might be heading as well," said Dr Turajlic.
Chance to change care
The researchers were able to classify kidney cancer into one of three broad categories:
Born to be bad
Benign
Intermediate
The "born to be bad" tumours had rapid and extensive mutations and would grow so quickly they are likely to have spread round the body before they are even detected.
Surgery to remove the original tumour may delay the use of drugs that can slow the disease.
The benign tumours are at the complete opposite and are likely to grow so slowly they may never be a problem to patients and could just be monitored.
The intermediate tumours were likely to initially spread to just one other location in the body and could be treated with surgery.
Michael Malley, 72, from London, took part in the trial at the Royal Marsden Hospital after being diagnosed with kidney cancer.
He said: "Clearly studies like these are really important for understanding how kidney cancer evolves over time, and I hope this one day leads to better treatments for patients like me."
There is still the challenge of figuring out how best to tailor treatments to each tumour type, and even how to perform such tests in a hospital rather than a research lab.
The tools used in this study are being investigated in other cancers, including lung cancer.
Dr Turajlic says: "We've no doubt they will be applicable to other types of cancer."
applicable【形】適用できる［される］、適切な、応用できる、当てはまる
The studies also revealed that the earliest mutations that lead to kidney cancer were happening up to half a century before the cancer was detected.
Sir Harpal Kumar, the chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said the study was "groundbreaking".

He added: "For years we've grappled with the fact that patients with seemingly very similar diagnoses nevertheless have very different outcomes.
grapple with〔問題・課題など〕に取り組む［立ち向かう］
"We're learning from the history of these tumours to better predict the future.
"This is profoundly important because hopefully we can predict the path a cancer will take for each individual patient and that will drive us towards more personalised treatment."

20180410

Prostate cancer: Four in 10 cases diagnosed late, charity says
Four in 10 prostate cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed late, a study suggests.
The report by charity Orchid found a "worrying trend" of late diagnosis with 37% of prostate cancer cases diagnosed at stages three and four.
The report found one in four cases of prostate cancer was diagnosed in A&E.
A&E【略】＝accident and emergency （department）〈英〉〔病院の〕救急救命科［センター］、救急外来
In February figures showed the number of men dying from prostate cancer had overtaken female deaths from breast cancer for the first time in the UK.
With an aging population, the charity has called for urgent action to prevent a "ticking time bomb in terms of prostate cancer provision".
ticking time bombカチカチ動く時限爆弾
Orchid chief executive Rebecca Porta said: "With prostate cancer due to be the most prevalent cancer in the UK within the next 12 years, we are facing a potential crisis in terms of diagnostics, treatment and patient care. Urgent action needs to be taken now."
in terms of～に関して、～の観点から
The report canvassed the opinion of the UK's leading prostate cancer experts and looked at previously published data to get a picture of the prostate cancer care across the UK.
The data came from organisations such as NHS England, charities and the National Prostate Cancer Audit.
The report says that 42% of prostate cancer patients saw their GP with symptoms twice or more before they were referred, with 6% seen five or more times prior to referral.
referral【名】〔専門医などへの〕照会、委託
Greater awareness
Prof Frank Chinegwundoh, a urological surgeon at Bart's Health NHS Trust said: "25% of prostate cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed at an advanced stage.
"This compares to just 8% in the US where there is greater public awareness of prostate cancer and greater screening," he added.
He said while there was controversy over the effectiveness of the standard PSA test used to detect the cancer, "it is still vital that patients are diagnosed early to assess if they need treatment or not as advanced prostate cancer is incurable".
PSA test【略】＝prostate-specific antigen testPSA［前立腺特異抗原］検査◆血液中の前立腺特異抗原を測定する前立腺がんの検査
前立腺特異抗原(ぜんりつせんとくいこうげん prostate specific antigen : PSA、PA)は、前立腺から分泌され精液中に含まれている生体物質である。分子量33～34kの単鎖状糖蛋白で、セリンプロテアーゼに分類されるタンパク質分解酵素の一種。どういう機能を担っているのかは不明であるが、精液の粘度を調整して精子の運動を助けているのではないかと考えられている。

前立腺癌のとき血清中の含有量が上昇するため、腫瘍マーカーとして用いられるが、炎症(前立腺炎)や、前立腺肥大症などでも上昇することがある。PSAとは前立腺細胞で特異的に産生される分泌蛋白です。正常の前立腺細胞でも作られていますが、前立腺組織が壊れていなければ血液中に漏れ出ることは少ないため、通常は血液検査で測定しても低い値（正常：0～4ng/ml）となります。しかし、前立腺癌になると癌細胞は正常細胞に比べて壊れやすいために癌細胞から分泌されたPSAは血中に漏れやすくなり、癌病巣が大きくなるにつれて血液中のPSA濃度は高くなります。ただし、良性の前立腺肥大症や前立腺に炎症を起こした場合でもPSAは高くなるため、PSAが高いことイコール前立腺癌とは限りらないのです。
The report also said there needed to be renewed efforts to develop better testing methods.
Prostate cancer symptoms
prostate cancer is diagnosed by using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, biopsies and physical examinations
there can be few symptoms of prostate cancer in the early stages, and because of its location most symptoms are linked to urination
needing to urinate more often, especially at night
needing to run to the toilet
difficulty in starting to urinate
weak urine flow or taking a long time while urinating
feeling your bladder has not emptied fully
men with prostate cancer can also live for decades without symptoms or needing treatment because the disease often progresses very slowly
The PSA test is available free to any man aged 50 or over who requests it, but the report said this can "create inequity" with tests being taken up by "more highly educated men in more affluent areas".
Prof Anne Mackie, director of programmes for the UK National Screening Committee, said the test was not offered universally because it was not very good at predicting which men have cancer.
"It will miss some cancers and often those cancers that are picked up when using the PSA test are not harmful," she explained.
"Treatment for prostate cancer can cause nasty side effects so we need to be sure we are treating the right men and the right cancers.
"There is a lot of research into screening and treatment for prostate cancer and the committee, along with NICE and the NHS, is keeping a close eye on the evidence as it develops," she added.
A spokesperson for NHS England said:
"NHS England is working closely with leading clinical experts to bring the latest research on prostate cancer into practice. Targeted work is also being undertaken to ensure prostate cancer is diagnosed quickly and that everyone receives the best care wherever they live across the country."

20180409

TB Treatment May Leave Some Patients Contagious
The World Health Organization’s dosage guidelines for two leading tuberculosis medications may be far too low for patients with H.I.V., allowing them to remain contagious for longer than necessary, a new study has found.
TB, now the leading infectious killer worldwide, takes over 1.5 million lives per year. Treatment lasts at least six months and can cause serious side effects, making it difficult for patients to stick to it.
stick to～をやり通す、～し続ける
Doctors have been prescribing two TB drugs, rifampicin and isoniazid, for almost half of a century. But the new research, published in March in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, adds to growing evidence that higher doses may kill the deadly mycobacteria faster, curbing transmission.
rifampicin【名】《化学》リファンピシン
isoniazid【名】イソニアジド
“I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Melvin K. Spigelman, the president of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development. “The recommended doses were really based on the cost of the drug, not on good science that showed it was the right dose. People, understandably, tried to get away with the least amount that seemed like it worked.”get away with逃げきる、何の罰も受けないで済む、罰を逃れる、許される、ただで済む ～でその場を切り抜ける［うまく逃れる・やり過ごす］
The study, led by Swiss and Ugandan researchers, focused on about 270 TB patients also infected with H.I.V. The condition can reduce the amounts of medications absorbed or retained in a patient’s bloodstream.
Patients received standard drug doses to treat TB, but concentrations in the blood were found to be jarringly low: 84 percent of the participants had substandard levels of isoniazid, and 78 percent fell below targets for rifampicin.
jarringly【副】不快なほどjar～をギクリと［がっくり］させる、～に不快感を与える、～の神経に障る
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The W.H.O. already has begun reviewing its decades-old treatment regimen. “This study provides one piece of a larger puzzle, and it’s necessary that we have another look,” said Dr. Karin Weyer, a TB expert at the W.H.O.
The study’s findings are a sign that TB research has been chronically underfunded, said Dr. Neil Schluger, an epidemiology professor at Columbia University.
For decades, few economic incentives have prompted drug companies to update TB treatments, which are primarily needed in poor regions - compared to lucrative therapies for diseases like cancer, he said.
“My real question is, why are we just doing this now?” said Dr. Schluger. “These are fundamental questions that should have been answered a long time ago.”