2022年11月01日 VOA慢速英語：研究旨在尋找長期 COVID 治療

 

Lauren Nichols has been suffering from bad health effects since her COVID-19 infection in the spring of 2020.
自 2020 年春季感染 COVID-19 以來，勞倫·尼科爾斯 (Lauren Nichols) 的健康狀況一直不佳。
 
The 34-year-old worker for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Boston has had problems with thinking and attention. She has also suffered from tiredness, seizures, headaches and pain.
 這位 34 歲的波士頓美國交通部工作人員在思考和注意力方面存在問題。她還患有疲倦、癲癇發(fā)作、頭痛和疼痛。
 
Last June, Nichols' doctor suggested she take small amounts of naltrexone, a drug often used to treat alcohol and opioid addiction. The result, she said, was that after more than two years of living in "a thick... cloud...I can actually think clearly."
去年六月，尼科爾斯的醫(yī)生建議她服用少量納曲酮，這是一種常用于治療酒精和阿片類藥物成癮的藥物。她說，結果是，在“厚厚的……云……我實際上可以清晰地思考”兩年多之后。
 
Researchers chase long COVID treatments
研究人員追逐長期的 COVID 治療
 
Researchers are studying treatments for the long-lasting effects of COVID infections, known as long COVID. They are excited to learn if naltrexone can offer similar helpful effects to millions of people suffering from health problems months after a coronavirus infection.
研究人員正在研究針對 COVID 感染的長期影響的治療方法，即所謂的長期 COVID。他們很高興知道納曲酮是否可以在冠狀病毒感染數月后為數百萬患有健康問題的人提供類似的有益效果。
 
Reuters studied information from Clinicaltrials.gov and spoke to 12 health researchers about long COVID. The news agency found that there are at least four special studies known as clinical trials that plan to test naltrexone in hundreds of patients with long COVID.
路透社研究了來自 Clinicaltrials.gov 的信息，并與 12 名健康研究人員就長期 COVID 進行了交談。該通訊社發(fā)現(xiàn)，至少有四項被稱為臨床試驗的特殊研究計劃在數百名長期 COVID 患者中測試納曲酮。
 
Naltrexone is also one of a few treatments to be tested in the U.S. National Institutes of Health's $1 billion RECOVER Initiative. Advisers to the effort say the aim is to learn more about causes of long COVID and to find treatments.
納曲酮也是美國國立衛(wèi)生研究院 10 億美元的 RECOVER 計劃中要測試的少數治療藥物之一。這項工作的顧問說，目的是更多地了解長期 COVID 的原因并找到治療方法。
 
Unlike treatments aimed at symptoms caused by COVID damage to organs, such as the lungs, low-dose naltrexone (LDN) may reverse some of the problems that are creating symptoms, they said.
他們說，與針對 COVID 對器官（如肺）損傷引起的癥狀的治療不同，低劑量納曲酮 (LDN) 可能會逆轉一些導致癥狀的問題。
 
What is naltrexone?
什么是納曲酮？
 
Naltrexone has anti-inflammatory properties and has been used in low doses for years to treat conditions such as fibromyalgia, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis, said Dr. Jarred Younger of the Neuro-inflammation, Pain and Fatigue Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
阿拉巴馬大學伯明翰分校神經炎癥、疼痛和疲勞實驗室的 Jarred Younger 博士說，納曲酮具有抗炎特性，多年來一直以低劑量用于治療纖維肌痛、克羅恩病和多發(fā)性硬化癥等疾病。 .
 
At 50 milligrams - 10 times the low dose - naltrexone is approved to treat opioid and alcohol addiction.
50 毫克 - 低劑量的 10 倍 - 納曲酮被批準用于治療阿片類藥物和酒精成癮。
 
Several drug manufacturers sell 50mg pills, but low-dose naltrexone must be purchased through a special drug store.
幾家制藥商出售 50mg 的藥丸，但小劑量的納曲酮必須通過專門的藥店購買。
 
Younger wrote a scientific study of the drug as an anti-inflammatory. In September, he put in a grant application to study LDN for long COVID. "It should be at the top of everyone's list for clinical trials," he said.
Younger 寫了一篇關于這種藥物作為抗炎藥的科學研究。9 月，他提交了一項撥款申請，以研究 LDN 的長期 COVID。“它應該在每個人的臨床試驗清單中名列前茅，”他說。
 
Much to be learned
很多東西要學
 
Still, the drug is unlikely to help all patients with long COVID. The condition includes about 200 symptoms including pain and heart issues, sleep problems, and thinking problems.
盡管如此，這種藥物不太可能幫助所有長期感染新冠病毒的患者。這種情況包括大約 200 種癥狀，包括疼痛和心臟問題、睡眠問題和思維問題。
 
Dr. Jack Lambert is an infectious disease expert at University College Dublin School of Medicine. He advised the use of LDN to other doctors treating patients who were suffering from symptoms after COVID.
Jack Lambert 博士是都柏林大學醫(yī)學院的傳染病專家。他建議其他醫(yī)生使用 LDN 治療 COVID 后出現(xiàn)癥狀的患者。
 
It worked so well that he ran a study among 38 long COVID patients. They reported improvements in energy, pain, concentration, sleep, and overall recovery from COVID-19 after two months, findings published in July said.
它的效果非常好，以至于他在 38 名長期 COVID 患者中進行了一項研究。7 月發(fā)表的研究結果稱，他們報告說，兩個月后，他們的能量、疼痛、注意力、睡眠和從 COVID-19 的整體恢復都有所改善。
 
Lambert is planning a larger study to confirm those results. He said LDN might repair damage caused by the disease rather than hide its symptoms.
蘭伯特正計劃進行一項更大規(guī)模的研究來確認這些結果。他說，LDN 可能會修復由疾病造成的損害，而不是隱藏其癥狀。
 
Other planned LDN trials include one by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and a study by AgelessRx, a new company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That study of 36 volunteers should have results by the end of this year, said company co-founder Sajad Zalzala.
其他計劃中的 LDN 試驗包括溫哥華不列顛哥倫比亞大學的一項試驗和位于密歇根州安娜堡的新公司 AgelessRx 的一項研究。公司聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人 Sajad Zalzala 說，這項對 36 名志愿者的研究應該會在今年年底之前取得成果。
 
Scientists are still working to explain exactly how LDN might work.
科學家們仍在努力解釋 LDN 究竟是如何工作的。
 
Reports say RECOVER officials are considering other possible treatments for long COVID. These include antiviral drugs, such as Pfizer's Paxlovid, blood-thinning drugs, steroids and nutritional supplements.
報道稱，RECOVER 官員正在考慮其他可能的長期 COVID 治療方法。這些包括抗病毒藥物，如輝瑞的 Paxlovid、血液稀釋藥物、類固醇和營養(yǎng)補充劑。
 
RECOVER officials said they have received many proposals but could not comment on which drugs will be tested until trials are finalized.
RECOVER 官員表示，他們已收到許多建議，但在試驗完成之前無法評論將測試哪些藥物。
 
Nichols, a patient adviser to RECOVER, was very happy when she learned LDN was being considered for the government-supported studies.
RECOVER 的患者顧問 Nichols 得知 LDN 被考慮用于政府支持的研究時非常高興。
 
While LDN has not cured all of her COVID-related problems, Nichols can now work all day without breaks and have a social life at home.
雖然 LDN 并沒有治愈她所有與 COVID 相關的問題，但 Nichols 現(xiàn)在可以不間斷地工作一整天，并在家中過上社交生活。
 
"It has made me feel like a human again," she said.
“這讓我再次感覺自己像一個人，”她說。