高考英语 考前突破阅读理解能力 文化教育 肥胖会导致肝.docVIP

肥胖会导致肝硬化 Doctor Jude Oben had grim news for a patient last week. The liver expert told the 60-year-old man that he had cirrhosis - for the second time in his life. 裘德·奥本医生是一位肝脏病专家，上周他带给一位60岁的病人一个坏消息——他又一次患上了肝硬化。这已经是这位病人第二次得这种疾病了。 ? Only four years ago Obens patient had required a liver transplant after his first bout of cirrhosis（肝硬化）, a condition he had contracted because he was obese. Unfortunately my patient continued to overeat and remained obese, said Oben, a hepatologist（肝脏病学家） based at the Royal Free and St Thomas hospitals in London. As a result, he contracted cirrhosis again. Sadly, I had to tell him that this time it was very unlikely he would be given another liver. ? Obens patient is one of a tidal wave of cases of cirrhosis, triggered by obesity, that threatens to sweep through hospitals across the UK. People might be aware that there are metabolic disorders such as diabetes and high blood pressure associated with obesity, but very few know about the connection with cirrhosis. However, there is a very clear link. Obesity can trigger cirrhosis. ? Oben, who recently launched the charity Obesity Action Campaign to help in the battle against the spread of the condition, said that 10 years ago he saw only an occasional case of obesity-related cirrhosis in his clinic. Today he has dozens of cases of the illness, which occurs when irreversible scarring causes a persons liver to deteriorate. In the past, excess alcohol consumption and hepatitis infections have been the main causes of cirrhosis in Britain. Now a third cause - obesity - has triggered a major increase in cases of liver disease in the UK. ? The average age of death from liver disease is 59, compared with 82-84 for heart and lung disease and strokes, for example. It is the fifth largest cause of death in the UK, and in the past 10 years there has been a fivefold increase in cirrhosis for those aged between 35 and 55. Oben predicts that these figures are only going to get worse as obesity levels ri