2022年11月01日 VOA慢速英语：研究旨在寻找长期 COVID 治疗

 

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 以来，劳伦·尼科尔斯 (Lauren Nichols) 的健康状况一直不佳。
 
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.
 这位 34 岁的波士顿美国交通部工作人员在思考和注意力方面存在问题。她还患有疲倦、癫痫发作、头痛和疼痛。
 
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，尼科尔斯的医生建议她服用少量纳曲酮，这是一种常用于治疗酒精和阿片类药物成瘾的药物。她说，结果是，在“厚厚的……云……我实际上可以清晰地思考”两年多之后。
 
Researchers chase long COVID treatments
研究人员追逐长期的 COVID 治疗
 
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.
研究人员正在研究针对 COVID 感染的长期影响的治疗方法，即所谓的长期 COVID。他们很高兴知道纳曲酮是否可以在冠状病毒感染数月后为数百万患有健康问题的人提供类似的有益效果。
 
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.
路透社研究了来自 Clinicaltrials.gov 的信息，并与 12 名健康研究人员就长期 COVID 进行了交谈。该通讯社发现，至少有四项被称为临床试验的特殊研究计划在数百名长期 COVID 患者中测试纳曲酮。
 
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.
纳曲酮也是美国国立卫生研究院 10 亿美元的 RECOVER 计划中要测试的少数治疗药物之一。这项工作的顾问说，目的是更多地了解长期 COVID 的原因并找到治疗方法。
 
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.
他们说，与针对 COVID 对器官（如肺）损伤引起的症状的治疗不同，低剂量纳曲酮 (LDN) 可能会逆转一些导致症状的问题。
 
What is naltrexone?
什么是纳曲酮？
 
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.
阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校神经炎症、疼痛和疲劳实验室的 Jarred Younger 博士说，纳曲酮具有抗炎特性，多年来一直以低剂量用于治疗纤维肌痛、克罗恩病和多发性硬化症等疾病。 .
 
At 50 milligrams - 10 times the low dose - naltrexone is approved to treat opioid and alcohol addiction.
50 毫克 - 低剂量的 10 倍 - 纳曲酮被批准用于治疗阿片类药物和酒精成瘾。
 
Several drug manufacturers sell 50mg pills, but low-dose naltrexone must be purchased through a special drug store.
几家制药商出售 50mg 的药丸，但小剂量的纳曲酮必须通过专门的药店购买。
 
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 写了一篇关于这种药物作为抗炎药的科学研究。9 月，他提交了一项拨款申请，以研究 LDN 的长期 COVID。“它应该在每个人的临床试验清单中名列前茅，”他说。
 
Much to be learned
很多东西要学
 
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.
尽管如此，这种药物不太可能帮助所有长期感染新冠病毒的患者。这种情况包括大约 200 种症状，包括疼痛和心脏问题、睡眠问题和思维问题。
 
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 博士是都柏林大学医学院的传染病专家。他建议其他医生使用 LDN 治疗 COVID 后出现症状的患者。
 
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 名长期 COVID 患者中进行了一项研究。7 月发表的研究结果称，他们报告说，两个月后，他们的能量、疼痛、注意力、睡眠和从 COVID-19 的整体恢复都有所改善。
 
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.
兰伯特正计划进行一项更大规模的研究来确认这些结果。他说，LDN 可能会修复由疾病造成的损害，而不是隐藏其症状。
 
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.
其他计划中的 LDN 试验包括温哥华不列颠哥伦比亚大学的一项试验和位于密歇根州安娜堡的新公司 AgelessRx 的一项研究。公司联合创始人 Sajad Zalzala 说，这项对 36 名志愿者的研究应该会在今年年底之前取得成果。
 
Scientists are still working to explain exactly how LDN might work.
科学家们仍在努力解释 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.
报道称，RECOVER 官员正在考虑其他可能的长期 COVID 治疗方法。这些包括抗病毒药物，如辉瑞的 Paxlovid、血液稀释药物、类固醇和营养补充剂。
 
RECOVER officials said they have received many proposals but could not comment on which drugs will be tested until trials are finalized.
RECOVER 官员表示，他们已收到许多建议，但在试验完成之前无法评论将测试哪些药物。
 
Nichols, a patient adviser to RECOVER, was very happy when she learned LDN was being considered for the government-supported studies.
RECOVER 的患者顾问 Nichols 得知 LDN 被考虑用于政府支持的研究时非常高兴。
 
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.
虽然 LDN 并没有治愈她所有与 COVID 相关的问题，但 Nichols 现在可以不间断地工作一整天，并在家中过上社交生活。
 
"It has made me feel like a human again," she said.
“这让我再次感觉自己像一个人，”她说。