Assignment 2

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_he_me/breast___heart;_ylt=AqVKgOUOQ5VvSIP.8j5XRgQDW7oF

Summary:
Breast cancer survivors may face increased risk of heart disease—drugs used to cure cancer may weaken some women’s hearts. It is still a controversy whether to ban the use of the drugs. Chemo, chest radiation, weight gain, physical inactivity during treatment, and stress are the culprits of cardiac diseases. The symptoms of taking the medicine are different—depending on if the woman whose tumors have the overactive genes, one is called Her2, the other is Topoll. For now, don’t ignore any kind of syndrome that happens, remember—early care can be lifesaving!

Words:
1. survivor
-someone who continues to live afterwards in spite of coming close to death.
2. controversy
-a lot of discussion and argument about something, often involving strong feelings of anger or disapproval.
3. ban
-to state officially that it must not be done, shown, or used.
4. culprit
- when talking about a problem or bad situation, you can refer to its cause as the culprit.
5. cardiac
-relating to the heart.
6. symptom
- something wrong with your body or mind that is a sign of the illness.
7. tumor
-a mass of diseased or abnormal cells that has grown in a person’s or animal’s body.
8. radiation
-consisting of very small particles of a radioactive substance.
9. cure
-causing the illness or injury to an end or disappear.
10.syndrome
-a medical condition that is characterized by a particular group of signs and symptoms.

Questions & Answers:
1. What’s the main idea of this passage?
A: The survivors of breast cancer may face the increasing risk of heart disease.

2. How does the drugs “anthracyclines” influence women?
A: They weaken some women's hearts.

3. In addition to “Chemo”, what else plays a role in cardiac disease?
A: Chest radiation, weight gain that plagues many survivors, physical inactivity during treatment, stress.

4. If we use “Herceptin” together with nthracyclines, how many times do the risk of heart disease increase?
A: Fivefold, with no extra benefit.

5. According to the above, what is the most important thing that we are trying to figure out?
A: How to find and help survivors with heart damage from any cause.