女性健康研究任重而道远

作者：Maya Jackson Randall

WASHINGTON—A dramatic boost in research into women's health issues over two decades has helped reduce the effects of such life-threatening conditions as breast cancer, cervical cancer and cardiovascular disease in women, according to a study released Thursday. 

华盛顿--这二十年来，研究人员对女性健康问题做了大量的研究。 星期四发布的研究结果显示，这些研究减轻了乳癌，子宫癌和心血管疾病等致命疾病对女性健康的影响。

The U.S. government-sponsored report also highlights some progress in reducing the effects of depression, HIV/AIDS and osteoporosis on women. 

美国政府报告还突出了研究在减轻抑郁，艾滋及骨质疏松症等疾病对女性健康影响方面的进展。

But there's also bad news. The study shows little progress on such health issues as lung cancer, which remains the leading cause of cancer death in women in the U.S. and still has relatively few screening and treatment options. The report also highlights unintended pregnancy, alcohol and drug addiction, autoimmune diseases and dementia as other women's health issues where little progress has been made. 

然而，研究也表明，在某些健康问题上，进展甚少。肺癌， 仍然被视为美国女性的“头号致命癌症”， 并且相关的检查及治疗方案少之甚少。报告同样指出了在意外怀孕，酗酒，毒瘾及自身免疫疾病方面的进展也微乎甚微。

Additionally, the study finds that, in general, research into life-threatening diseases has grown, but there's been less progress on conditions that aren't necessarily associated with high death rates but still negatively impact a woman's quality of life. 

研究还发现， 总体上，对于致命疾病的相关研究不断成熟，但是对于那些不致命的，却对女性生活质量造成困扰的疾病的研究，进展就慢得多了。

The report, conducted by the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gives a mixed review regarding the state of women's health research. It also makes the case that while there have been significant improvements in women's health research over the past 20 years, more work needs to be done. 

由美国卫生公共事业部国家科技院医学研究所发布的报告中，关于女性健康研究的现状的论述也是毁誉参半。报告提出，虽然过去的二十年中，女性健康方面的研究取得了重大的进步，但是这项任务仍然任重而道远。

"Significant boosts in research on women's health issues have yielded measurable progress in reducing the toll of several serious disorders," said Nancy Adler, a University of California, San Francisco, medical psychology professor who led the committee that evaluated the status of women's health research. "Unfortunately, less progress has been made on conditions that are not major killers but still profoundly affect women's quality of life." 

“女性健康问题研究上取得的重大进展， 在减少一些严重疾病导致的死亡上已获得明显的进步。”加利福尼亚大学的医疗心理学教授南希·艾德勒说。她带领她的成员对女性健康研究现状做了相关的评估。她还说：“不过遗憾的是，在那些不是主要致命的，却严重影响女性生活质量的疾病的研究上，取的的成果就要小的多了。”

The study also highlights ongoing racial disparities. For instance, it notes that more white women than black women get breast cancer, but more black women die from the disease. The data suggests a need to boost women's health research on certain populations, the study said. 

研究也强调了不断扩大的种族不平等性。例如，患乳癌的白人女性比黑人女性要多，然而，却是更多的黑人女性死于乳癌。研究人员说，这一信息表明女性健康研究应该限于特定种族。

The study notes that, historically, researchers included fewer women than men in clinical studies because of concerns that women could become pregnant and that hormones fluctuations would complicate studies. Historically, researchers also held an inaccurate assumption that the symptom of diseases in men would closely correspond to what happens in women, said the report. 

研究中特别提到，历代的临床研究中，因为考虑到女性如果怀孕的话，一些反应可能会使研究变得更复杂，所以研究人员青睐于男性。加上历代的研究者还持有一种不正确的假想，那就是男性的疾病症状几乎与女性的疾病症状一致。

Going forward, researchers need to analyze and report test results separately for men and women, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should make sure companies comply with requirements to provide sex-specific data when it comes to the safety of new drugs and devices, the study said. 

接下来，研究员要对男性和女性的测试结果分别作出分析和报告。 另外，因为涉及新药品和设备的安全，美国食品医药管理局要求保证公司遵循要求提供有不同性别的资料。

Additionally, the study recommends that the U.S. Health and Human Services Department create a panel to help women understand any conflicting findings.

此外，研究人员建议美国卫生公共事业部组建专门小组向女性解释说明发现中一些不一致的地方。