[00:00.04]如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享This is the VOA Special English Health Report. [00:04.52]Countries across Asia and beyond are reporting small amounts of radiation from the disabled nuclear reactors in Japan. [00:15.02]But officials say these levels are not a threat to public health. [00:20.81]On Tuesday, Chinese officials reported low levels of radioactive iodine-131 in areas of southeastern China. [00:32.30]These include Guangxi, Guangdong and Shanghai. [00:37.49] Earlier tests found the material in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. [00:44.74]In South Korea, nuclear safety officials say they have found radioactive iodine in Seoul and several other areas. [00:55.78]Traces from the Fukushima power station have also been found as far away as Britain and the eastern United States. [01:06.62]Radioactive iodine loses half its strength in a week. But a more dangerous material, plutonium, [01:15.80]has also been found in soil near the power plant. [01:20.26]Some medicines, like Prussian blue pills, can help expel radioactive elements from the body. [01:28.54]But there are not a lot of treatments for radiation exposure. [01:34.17]The best known is potassium iodide. The pills flood the thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine. [01:44.19]The thyroid gland is a small organ in the neck that requires iodine for good health. [01:52.28]But people exposed to high levels of radioactive iodine can get thyroid cancer. [02:00.45]The pills block the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine and reduce the cancer risk. [02:09.72]But the pills are not a cure for radiation sickness. And they work only if the radioactive iodine has been taken into the body through food or drink. [02:23.86]The World Health Organization is warning the public not to use potassium iodide unless health officials advise them to. [02:35.55]WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl says the pills have their own risks. [02:41.86]GREGORY HARTL: "Indiscriminate use of the product can cause side effects such as inflammation of the salivary glands, [02:47.48]nausea, rashes, intestinal upset and possible severe allergic reactions. [02:53.05]It can also interact with other medications, especially certain types of cardiovascular medications such as ACE inhibitors, [03:02.15]receptor blockers and potassium-sparing diuretics." [03:05.71]The crisis in Japan is the result of damage from the March eleventh earthquake and tsunami. [03:13.38]In the United States, the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute is looking for more-effective treatments for radiation exposure. [03:25.50]The institute is working with a company called Onconova on one possible treatment known as Ex-Rad. [03:34.13]Onconova officials say Ex-Rad has shown promise in tests on animals, but several more years of research are needed. [03:45.54]And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. To read and hear more health news, go to www.hxen.com from your computer or mobile device. I'm Steve Ember.如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享