【THE CASUALTIES OF CIVILIZATION·都是文明惹得“祸”】
主题札记：重读村上春树的《当我谈跑步时，我谈些什么》，我感慨良多。没有浮华梦魇下的怅惘，没有马不停蹄的忧伤，我看到的是作者因奔跑而不断丰盈的生命——不是依靠药物，而是让身体发挥“自愈”能力来抵御伤痛；人可以不断挑战自己的耐力极限；生活中，我们可以拿“夕阳”来治愈悲伤，用“晨雾”来激发灵感。
原来，人类可以用最原始的方式来得到幸福。但是，此时此刻，在这个星球上，人类是如此孤独。由于消费主义和技术崇拜，短短几百年间，生态遭到破坏，战争吞噬生命；打着“文明”的旗号，“优秀种族”用野蛮的方式“改造”土著居民……人与人，人与自然之间的平衡就这样被人类无尽的欲望破坏。
我还记得四年前我独自一人在丽江古镇漫步的那夜，我仿佛身处与“文明”隔绝的仙境：流水脉脉，繁星点点。夏花几多忧伤，明月几多惆怅？那刻，没有喧嚣与繁华，只是与“大自然”两相偎依，在我看来，却是最美的时刻。-Mac
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After six years on a 2)prescription 3)estrogen 4)patch that 5)alleviated her hot flashes, but did nothing to address her midlife 25-pound weight gain, Martha B. started searching to treat her 6)menopausal symptoms. She turned to the 7)hormone therapies and started to take pills that have been seen to have estrogen-like effects in humans.
Without changing her eating habits, Martha said she lost 20 pounds. But after four months off the patch, the hot flashes came back. Other than the hot flashes, she started to experience the increasing 8)allergies, dizziness and the occasional loss of balance. Now, she was wondering, “What do I do next?”
According to experts, about 70 percent of women experience hot flashes, weight gain and other symptoms as they 9)transition from their fertile to postfertile years and their hormone levels fluctuate sharply. It’s a process that lasts an average of seven years.
These women are seeking treatment for menopausal symptoms. They turn to the modern devices like medicine and hormone therapies for help. But some bigger issues emerged. In 2002, when the initial findings of a National Institutes of Health study—known as the Women’s Health Initiative project—suggested that women on conventional hormone therapy were at greater risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke and 10)blood clotting, the market for alternative treatments soared. There are now more than 500 products that 11)purport to relieve symptoms associated with menopause. “It seems like that if you were a certain age, your doctor would hand you a prescription for hormone pills and that would be that,” said Karen Giblin, the director of Red Hot Mamas, an organization that offers educational programs and information on menopause. “Women were 12)popping them like M&M’s.” she added.
玛莎·B六年来都坚持按照医生处方用雌激素贴片来缓解热潮红症状,而对于自
己因中年发福而增重25磅这一事,她却没有采取任何行动。后来她开始寻求新方法来治疗她的更年期综合症。她转向采用激素疗法,开始服用一些药片,该种药品已被证实在人体内可产生雌激素般的效用。
不用改变饮食习惯,玛莎说她减了20磅。但在取下贴片的4个月之后,她的潮热症状又卷土重来了。而且除了潮热之外,她还开始有越来越严重的过敏、头昏眼花症状,身体还会偶尔失衡。现在她想知道:“接下来我该怎么办呢?”
根据专家所说,女性从生育期向绝育期过渡这段时期,体内的激素水平会产生大幅波动,其中约70%的女性会有热潮红、发胖及其他症状。这一过程平均的持续时间长达7年之久。
这些女性都在寻求治疗更年期综合症的方法。她们求助于现代手段,如药物和激素疗法。但更大的问题随之出现。在2002年,根据美国国家卫生研究院一项名为“妇女健康倡导计划”的初步研究,发现那些长期采用激素疗法的女性患心脏病、癌症、中风和血凝的几率更高,消息一出,非传统疗法的市场飞速扩展。现在市面上有超过500种产品声称能缓解更年期症状。“就好像是只要你到了某个年龄段,你的医生就会给你开点调节激素的药片,别无他法,” 凯伦·吉布林说,她是“火辣妈妈”这个组织的负责人,该组织提供教育计划和有关更年期的信息。“女士们吃药就像吞M&M’s牌巧克力豆一样稀松平常。”她补充道。
Meanwhile, more and more women bothered by symptoms are searching for a natural alternative, including natural supplements and regular exercise program. They may try, for example, a supplement of 13)phytoestrogens derived from soy and 14)red clover, a low-dose 15)progesterone cream, or 16)swear by black 17)cohosh 18)capsules. “Now, so many women I speak with want to go natural.” said Giblin. Instead of resorting to drugs, a large number of women tend to ease the symptoms in a “primitive” way.
In a recent study, researchers found menopausal women aged 55-72 who started a yearlong exercise program experienced significant improvement in both mental and physical health while those who didn’t exercise got worse. “The group that improved took part in three hours of fully supervised exercise a week for 12 months,” says researcher Carmen Villaverde-Gutierrez. “As well as monitoring severe symptoms, we also looked at the women’s quality of life and found that the average scores for the exercise group improved while those for the 19)control group decreased.”
Discussions about “natural cures” are constantly springing up. It is widely believed the human body is designed to heal itself. There is no denying that the human body needs outside help by conventional medicine to help it heal at times. But many tend to forget that the body has an extraordinary immune system built in to help the body heal itself without outside intervention. The human body was created to heal itself and many times medicines that are produced to help the body heal, can create side effects that can cause other 20)complications. Sadly people tend to resort to medicine once they don’t feel well.
与此同时,越来越多受更年期综合症困扰的女性正在寻求自然的替代疗法,包括采用天然的补充剂和进行定期锻炼。比如说,她们可能尝试一种从大豆和红苜蓿提炼出来的植物雌性激素补充剂,一种小剂量的黄体酮乳霜,或信赖一种由黑升麻制成的胶囊。“现在,很多和我聊过的女性都想采取天然疗法。”吉布林说。许多女性倾向于用“原始”的方法来缓解症状,而非诉诸药物。
在最近的一项研究中,研究人员发现,年龄介乎55至72岁之间的更年期女性,坚持运动锻炼有一年时间的,身心健康都有显著的改善,而不运动的,其身心状况则越来越差。“健康有改善的那一组测试者12个月来每周都在全程指导下锻炼3个小时,”研究员卡门·维拉芙尔德—古提瑞兹说。“在监测严重的症状有否得到缓解的同时,我们也观察这些女性的生活质量,发现参加锻炼的小组该项平均分数有所提高,而没有锻炼的对照组其分数则下降。”
有关“自然疗法”的讨论不断涌现。众所周知,人类的身体有自愈的能力。不可否认,人类的身体有时需要外界的帮助,需要借助常规的药物来帮助康复。但许多人却忘记,身体本就有一套非凡的免疫系统来帮助它在没有外力干涉的情况下自愈。人类的身体天生就能自愈,很多时候那些生产出来帮助身体恢复健康的药物会产生副作用,并引起其他并发症。可悲的是,人们一旦感觉到自己不舒服时,就会诉诸药物。