And tonight, there is a great deal of medical news, news about three of the greatest medical challenges of our time: cancer, Alzheimer’s, and autism. Tonight, we’re going to look at all of this news and explore the question of how you distinguish, in the avalanche of medical news that seems to come each day, what is important, and what is not.
We start with cancer. A national study says the rate of Americans dying from cancer is declining faster than ever, dropping two percent a year from 2002 through 2004. And ABC’s Dan Harris is with us tonight, Dan. Hey Charlie, good evening. Today, the National Cancer Society said we are (quote), “truly turning the tide in the cancer battle.”
And this good news is not the result of miracle cures or anything like that. Instead, it’s something much more basic. All those anti- smoking ads, “1-800-QUIT-NOW,” all those public service announcements for colorectal screening, “and if they find a polyp,” all those times your doctor told you to go get a mammogram - it looks like all of that pleading is now actually paying off.
Doctors say cancer death rates are declining faster than ever, largely because people are following doctors’ orders. Patricia Lintey Crane caught her breast cancer early through a routine mammography. -- The early detection saved my life. A combination of early detection and also improved treatments drove down death rates among men for lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer; and among women, for breast and colorectal cancer.
-- The news is very optimistic that we can reduce the death rate from cancer. Deaths are dropping fastest for colorectal cancer, in large measure because more people are getting screened and having precancerous polyps removed. Still, many people who need screening for all sorts of cancers are not going in to get it.
So while doctors are excited about today’s news, they say the declines could be even bigger if everyone who needed screenings got them. For example, only half of the people who are supposed to get colorectal screenings - that’s everyone over age 50 - only half of those people actually get checked. So Charlie, so there’s a lot of room for improvement here. All right, Dan Harris reporting tonight.
a great [good] deal of ~ : (a lot of~) 많은~ autism : 자폐증 ex. I want to help kids with autism. 자폐증을 앓고 있는 아이들을 돕고싶 다 . explore : 탐험[답사]하다, <문제 등 을> 탐구하다, 조사하다 distinguish : 구별하다 , 식별 [ 분간 ] 하다 , 구분하다 , ~ 을 특징지우다 ex. Reason distinguishes man from the animals. = Reason distinguishes between man and the animals. 이성에 의하여 인간과 동 물이 구별된다 * distinguish oneself : 유명해지다 * distinguished 뚜렷한 , 현저한 , 저명한 , 유명한 , < 행동 등이 > 뛰 어난 ( distinguished guests 귀빈 ) avalanche : [ 눈·토사·암석 따위의 ] 사태 . [ 사태처럼 ] 갑자기 쏟아져 내리는 것 , [ 우편물·질문 따위의 ] 쇄 도 . * an avalanche of questions 빗발치는 질문. decline : ~ 을 기울이다 , 기울다 , 경사지다 , (~ 을 ) 거절하다 , 사절하다 , 경사 , 내리막 , ( 힘·체력의 ) 감퇴 , 쇠약 ex. decline a gift with thanks 선물을 정중히 사절하다 ex. He declined to explain. 그는 해명하기를 거절했다 / ex. She was invited to a party, but declined. tide : 조수 , 조류 , [the tide] 풍조 , 경향 * turn the tide : 형세를 일변시키다, 형국을 바꾸다 cure : 치료법 , 치료 , ~ 를 치료하다 . ex. cure a patient 환자를 치료하다 ex. He was cured of cancer. 그의 암 은 치료되었다 . ex. Time cured him of his grief. 시간이 그의 슬픔을 낫게 했다 . ex. a cure for headache 두통 치료법 public service announcement : 공익 광고 colorectal : 직장결장의 * rectal : 직장 (rectum) 의 / colon 결장 mammogram : 유방 X 선 사진 * mammography : 유방 X선 촬영(법) plead : 변호하다 , 변론하다 , 이유로서 내세 우다 , 탄원하다 , 간청하다 ex. plead ignorance of law 법률을 몰랐다는 것을 이유로 내세워 탄원하 다 /* plead guilty : 유죄를 인정하다 / * plead not guilty 무죄를 주장하다 * plead with someone (to do something) : ~ 에게 간청하다 / ex. I pleaded with you to stay, but you turned your back on me. pay off : 1. ( 빚을 ) 다 갚다 , 2. 이익을 가져오다 , 성과를 거두다 , 수지맞 다 / If something you have done pays off, it is successful ex. All her hard work paid off in the end, and she finally passed the exam. ex. It pays off to manage your Information. * payoff : 1. 혜택 , 이득 (advantage or benefit) ex. If such materials became generally available to the optics industry, the payoffs from such a breakthrough would be enormous. 2. 뇌물 (bribe) 3. A payoff is a large payment made to someone by their employer when the person has been forced to leave their job. ex. The ousted chairman received a $1.5 million payoff from the loss-making oil company. drive down : 차를 몰고 (…까지) 가다(to), < 이율 따위를> 인하하다, 감소시키다 prostate : 전립선 ( 의 ) * prostate cancer 전립선암 in large measure : 상당히, 대부분 * measure : ~ 을 측정하다 , 치수를 재다 , < 인물 등을 > 평가하다 , 신 중히 선택하다 * measure A against B: A 를 B 와 비교 평가 하다 ex. Measured against the success of some of their rivals, the performance looks poor. * measured : 정확히 잰 , 정확히 조정된 , 신중한 , 숙고한 (slow, careful, and deliberate) ex. We are taking a careful and measured approach to the problem. * measure one's words and acts 언행에 신중을 기하다 precancerous : 전암(前癌) 증상의 room : 방 , 실 ( 室 ), [uncount]( 사람 ·물건 등이 차지하는 ) 장소 , 공간 , 여지 (the possibility for something to exist or happen) ex. There isn't much room in here. 이곳은 공간이 별로 없군 . * room for~ : ex. Is there room for one more in your car? * room to do something: ex. The band was good, but there was no room to dance. ex. There is plenty of room for disagreement in this controversial area. * take up room: ex. This table takes up too much room. 공간을 너무 차 지한다 . * there is room for improvement : ex. There is clearly room for improvement in a number of management areas. (=an indirect way of saying something is not very good)