A 91-year-old woman with aortic stenosis — narrowing of the aortic valve — could not have surgery to deal with the condition due to the high degree of risk in having open heart surgery. Last year she got appendicitis, but was prevented from having surgery for this because of her heart condition. Her only option was to control it with antibiotics, with the result that it kept recurring. Her heart condition had by this time got to the stage where something had to be done about it, and following an evaluation by her doctors it was decided to insert a catheter rather than perform open heart surgery. After the procedure the woman made a good recovery, and this year she can have the surgery for her appendicitis.
According to the heart surgeon responsible for her case, the aortic valve is the opening through which the heart sends blood throughout the entire body, and it can narrow due to factors such as aging or disease, resulting in a reduction in the flow of blood and necessitating the insertion of a replacement aortic valve if the condition is to improve. Otherwise, if the condition is treated with medication alone, the death rate within one year is as high as 50 percent, but every year 3 percent of sufferers cannot have surgery because they are too advanced in age or their problem is compounded with other conditions.
(Liberty Times, translated by Paul Cooper)
九十一歲的老太太患有心臟主動脈瓣膜狹窄,考量開胸手術風險高,遲遲未處理,去年她罹患盲腸炎,礙於主動脈瓣膜狹窄無法動刀,只能用抗生素控制,結果反覆復發,心臟問題已到不處理不行的地步,經醫師評估以經導管手術取代大刀開胸,術後復原良好,今年可以動盲腸手術了。
收治個案的心臟內科醫師表示,主動脈瓣膜是心臟輸送血液至全身經過的大門,可能出於老化或疾病因素而窄化,導致流動血液量減少,必須接受瓣膜置入術改善情況,否則單以藥物處置,一年死亡率高達百分之五十,但每年仍有百分之三患者因年長的或合併其他疾病而無法動刀。
(自由時報記者林惠琴)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of