Questões de Inglês

Can acupuncture treat depression?

 

The alternative practice may be able to replace medication or alleviate its side effects

Tori Rodriguez

June 12, 2014

 

A growing number of people are seeking alternatives to

antidepressant medications, and new research suggests that

acupuncture could be a promising option. One new study

found the traditional Chinese practice to be as effective as

antidepressants, and a different study found that acupuncture

may help treat the medications’ side effects.

In acupuncture, a practitioner inserts needles into the

skin at points of the body thought to correspond with specific

organs. Western medicine suggests the needles may activate

natural painkillers in the brain; in traditional Chinese medicine,

the process is believed to improve functioning by correcting

energy blocks or imbalances in the organs.

A study published last fall in the Journal of Alternative

and Complementary Medicine found that electroacupuncture

– in which a mild electric current is transmitted through the

needles – was just as effective as fluoxetine (the generic

name of Prozac) in reducing symptoms of depression. For

six weeks, patients underwent either electroacupuncture

five times weekly or a standard daily dose of fluoxetine. The

researchers, the majority of whom specialize in traditional

Chinese medicine, assessed participants’ symptoms every

two weeks and tracked their levels of glial cell line-derived

neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a neuroprotective protein.

Previous studies have found lower amounts of GDNF among

patients with major depressive disorder, and in another

research, levels of the protein rose after treatment with

antidepressant medication.

After six weeks, both groups showed a similar improvement

in symptoms, and both treatments restored GDNF to a normal

concentration. But the acupuncture began to work faster,

reducing symptoms more dramatically at weeks two and four

than the drug did. Among the patients who got better, a higher

percentage of the acupuncture recipients showed “great

improvement.”

Another study suggests that acupuncture may help with

one particularly difficult aspect of depression treatment:

the sexual side effects of some medications. Twelve weeks

of acupuncture helped both men and women with several

aspects of sexual functioning, according to the work, also

in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

These findings add to a growing body of research suggesting

acupuncture may be useful for a variety of ailments, including

chronic pain, anxiety and nausea.

 

(www.scientificamerican.com. Adaptado.)

Um dos estudos mencionados no primeiro parágrafo do texto descobriu que

Can acupuncture treat depression?

 

The alternative practice may be able to replace medication or alleviate its side effects

Tori Rodriguez

June 12, 2014

 

A growing number of people are seeking alternatives to

antidepressant medications, and new research suggests that

acupuncture could be a promising option. One new study

found the traditional Chinese practice to be as effective as

antidepressants, and a different study found that acupuncture

may help treat the medications’ side effects.

In acupuncture, a practitioner inserts needles into the

skin at points of the body thought to correspond with specific

organs. Western medicine suggests the needles may activate

natural painkillers in the brain; in traditional Chinese medicine,

the process is believed to improve functioning by correcting

energy blocks or imbalances in the organs.

A study published last fall in the Journal of Alternative

and Complementary Medicine found that electroacupuncture

– in which a mild electric current is transmitted through the

needles – was just as effective as fluoxetine (the generic

name of Prozac) in reducing symptoms of depression. For

six weeks, patients underwent either electroacupuncture

five times weekly or a standard daily dose of fluoxetine. The

researchers, the majority of whom specialize in traditional

Chinese medicine, assessed participants’ symptoms every

two weeks and tracked their levels of glial cell line-derived

neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a neuroprotective protein.

Previous studies have found lower amounts of GDNF among

patients with major depressive disorder, and in another

research, levels of the protein rose after treatment with

antidepressant medication.

After six weeks, both groups showed a similar improvement

in symptoms, and both treatments restored GDNF to a normal

concentration. But the acupuncture began to work faster,

reducing symptoms more dramatically at weeks two and four

than the drug did. Among the patients who got better, a higher

percentage of the acupuncture recipients showed “great

improvement.”

Another study suggests that acupuncture may help with

one particularly difficult aspect of depression treatment:

the sexual side effects of some medications. Twelve weeks

of acupuncture helped both men and women with several

aspects of sexual functioning, according to the work, also

in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

These findings add to a growing body of research suggesting

acupuncture may be useful for a variety of ailments, including

chronic pain, anxiety and nausea.

 

(www.scientificamerican.com. Adaptado.)

O subtítulo “The alternative practice may be able to replace medication or alleviate its side effects” indica que a resposta à pergunta do título deve ser:

The trip that transformed me: The university graduate By Mia Simon

 

Australian Vanessa Costanzo expected her university

experience to prepare her for adulthood, but in reality, she

said, it prepared her only for a job. So after she graduated

from Curtin University in Western Australia in February

2013, she decided to travel.

Costanzo hoped to gain worldly knowledge that she

craved by spending seven months exploring Europe and

parts of the Middle East. Starting in 2014, the lessons

came fast and furious.

Her first stop was Dubai. Not long after she arrived,

she recalled watching men from Pakistan and India in blue

jumpsuits working tirelessly in the sweltering heat1 to

manage the upkeep of Sheikh Zayed Road, a major city

thoroughfare2.

Unlike Costanzo, they were not in a foreign country on

holiday. A cab driver told her that most were working for

minimal pay and living in substandard conditions. Much of

the money they earned they sent home to their families.

How did he know? He had a wife and child back home

in his native India. He hadn’t seen them in a year.

The lesson hit her hard: If you have the means to

travel, as she did, you’re fortunate. And you don’t need

material possessions to be happy.

 

Glossary:

1. sweltering heat: oppressively hot

2. thoroughfare: a main road

 

Source: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20150224-the-trip-that-transformed-me-the-universitygraduate. Adapted.

It is CORRECT to say that the first place Vanessa Constanzo visited was:

There is no future in any job. The future lies in the person who holds the job.” – George W. Crane

 

education is that they tend to prepare students for jobs of

the past. Similarly, the best paying jobs of the future are

all jobs that currently exist today. Many of them will still

[5]   exist in the future, but with some changes as technology

and communication systems make their impact.

As a rule of thumb, 60% of the jobs 10 years

from now haven’t been invented yet. With that in mind,

I’ve decided to put together a list of some jobs that will be

[10]  in high demand in the future.

 

Jobs before 2020

Many of the changes we see today will cause

new jobs to materialize quickly. This first section deals

[15]  with new positions that will likely be developed within the

next 10 years.

3D printing engineers – Classes in 3D printing are

already being introduced into high schools and the

demand for printer-produced products will rise quickly.

[20]  The trend will be for these worker-less workshops to

enter virtually different fields, at the same time, driving

the need for competent technicians and engineers to

design and maintain the next wave of this technology.

Nano-medics – Health professionals capable of working

[25]  on the nano-level, both in designing diagnostics systems,

  remedies, and monitoring solutions will be in high

demand.

Organ agents – The demand for transplantable organs

is exploding and people who can track down and deliver

[30]   healthy organs will be in hot demand.

Octogenarian service providers – As the population

continues to age we will have record numbers of people

living into their 80s, 90s, and 100s. This growing group of

active oldsters will provide a demand for goods and

[35]  services currently not being addressed in today’s

marketplace.

Jobs in 2030 and beyond

A number of technologies currently on the

drawing board will require a bit longer lead time before

[40]the industry comes into its own. Here are a few examples

of these kinds of jobs:

Body part & limb makers – The organ agents listed

before will quickly find themselves out of work as soon as

we figure out how to efficiently grow and mass produce

[45]  our own organs from scratch.

 Earthquake forecasters – While scientists are

developing skills to work with nanoscale precision on the

earth’s surface, the best we can know about below the

surface is blindfolded guesswork done with 100-mile

[50]  precision. What we don’t know is literally killing us – over

226,000 killed in 2010 alone. But that will change over

time as we begin to understand the inner working of the

earth and accurately forecast when the next big quakes

are about to hit.

[55]   “Heavy air” engineers – Compressed air is useful in a

wide variety of ways. However, we have yet to figure out

how to compress streams of air as they pass through our

existing atmosphere. Once we do, it will create untold

opportunity for non-surface based housing and

[60]  transportation system, weather control, and other kinds

of experimentation.

 

Final thoughts

The jobs and occupations listed above are just

scratching the surface. This list is intended to help

[65]  stretch your imagination and start you down a path of

imagining your own future.

 

(Adapted from http://www.futuristspeaker.com/2011/11/55-jobs-of-the-future)

“There is no future in any job. The future lies in the person who holds the job.” – George W. Crane.

 

Crane's quotation in the indirect speech is best shown in

There is no future in any job. The future lies in the person who holds the job.” – George W. Crane

 

education is that they tend to prepare students for jobs of

the past. Similarly, the best paying jobs of the future are

all jobs that currently exist today. Many of them will still

[5]   exist in the future, but with some changes as technology

and communication systems make their impact.

As a rule of thumb, 60% of the jobs 10 years

from now haven’t been invented yet. With that in mind,

I’ve decided to put together a list of some jobs that will be

[10]  in high demand in the future.

 

Jobs before 2020

Many of the changes we see today will cause

new jobs to materialize quickly. This first section deals

[15]  with new positions that will likely be developed within the

next 10 years.

3D printing engineers – Classes in 3D printing are

already being introduced into high schools and the

demand for printer-produced products will rise quickly.

[20]  The trend will be for these worker-less workshops to

enter virtually different fields, at the same time, driving

the need for competent technicians and engineers to

design and maintain the next wave of this technology.

Nano-medics – Health professionals capable of working

[25]  on the nano-level, both in designing diagnostics systems,

  remedies, and monitoring solutions will be in high

demand.

Organ agents – The demand for transplantable organs

is exploding and people who can track down and deliver

[30]   healthy organs will be in hot demand.

Octogenarian service providers – As the population

continues to age we will have record numbers of people

living into their 80s, 90s, and 100s. This growing group of

active oldsters will provide a demand for goods and

[35]  services currently not being addressed in today’s

marketplace.

Jobs in 2030 and beyond

A number of technologies currently on the

drawing board will require a bit longer lead time before

[40]the industry comes into its own. Here are a few examples

of these kinds of jobs:

Body part & limb makers – The organ agents listed

before will quickly find themselves out of work as soon as

we figure out how to efficiently grow and mass produce

[45]  our own organs from scratch.

 Earthquake forecasters – While scientists are

developing skills to work with nanoscale precision on the

earth’s surface, the best we can know about below the

surface is blindfolded guesswork done with 100-mile

[50]  precision. What we don’t know is literally killing us – over

226,000 killed in 2010 alone. But that will change over

time as we begin to understand the inner working of the

earth and accurately forecast when the next big quakes

are about to hit.

[55]   “Heavy air” engineers – Compressed air is useful in a

wide variety of ways. However, we have yet to figure out

how to compress streams of air as they pass through our

existing atmosphere. Once we do, it will create untold

opportunity for non-surface based housing and

[60]  transportation system, weather control, and other kinds

of experimentation.

 

Final thoughts

The jobs and occupations listed above are just

scratching the surface. This list is intended to help

[65]  stretch your imagination and start you down a path of

imagining your own future.

 

(Adapted from http://www.futuristspeaker.com/2011/11/55-jobs-of-the-future)

“The jobs and occupations listed above are just scratching the surface.” (lines 64 and 65) This sentence means that

There is no future in any job. The future lies in the person who holds the job.” – George W. Crane

 

education is that they tend to prepare students for jobs of

the past. Similarly, the best paying jobs of the future are

all jobs that currently exist today. Many of them will still

[5]   exist in the future, but with some changes as technology

and communication systems make their impact.

As a rule of thumb, 60% of the jobs 10 years

from now haven’t been invented yet. With that in mind,

I’ve decided to put together a list of some jobs that will be

[10]  in high demand in the future.

 

Jobs before 2020

Many of the changes we see today will cause

new jobs to materialize quickly. This first section deals

[15]  with new positions that will likely be developed within the

next 10 years.

3D printing engineers – Classes in 3D printing are

already being introduced into high schools and the

demand for printer-produced products will rise quickly.

[20]  The trend will be for these worker-less workshops to

enter virtually different fields, at the same time, driving

the need for competent technicians and engineers to

design and maintain the next wave of this technology.

Nano-medics – Health professionals capable of working

[25]  on the nano-level, both in designing diagnostics systems,

  remedies, and monitoring solutions will be in high

demand.

Organ agents – The demand for transplantable organs

is exploding and people who can track down and deliver

[30]   healthy organs will be in hot demand.

Octogenarian service providers – As the population

continues to age we will have record numbers of people

living into their 80s, 90s, and 100s. This growing group of

active oldsters will provide a demand for goods and

[35]  services currently not being addressed in today’s

marketplace.

Jobs in 2030 and beyond

A number of technologies currently on the

drawing board will require a bit longer lead time before

[40]the industry comes into its own. Here are a few examples

of these kinds of jobs:

Body part & limb makers – The organ agents listed

before will quickly find themselves out of work as soon as

we figure out how to efficiently grow and mass produce

[45]  our own organs from scratch.

 Earthquake forecasters – While scientists are

developing skills to work with nanoscale precision on the

earth’s surface, the best we can know about below the

surface is blindfolded guesswork done with 100-mile

[50]  precision. What we don’t know is literally killing us – over

226,000 killed in 2010 alone. But that will change over

time as we begin to understand the inner working of the

earth and accurately forecast when the next big quakes

are about to hit.

[55]   “Heavy air” engineers – Compressed air is useful in a

wide variety of ways. However, we have yet to figure out

how to compress streams of air as they pass through our

existing atmosphere. Once we do, it will create untold

opportunity for non-surface based housing and

[60]  transportation system, weather control, and other kinds

of experimentation.

 

Final thoughts

The jobs and occupations listed above are just

scratching the surface. This list is intended to help

[65]  stretch your imagination and start you down a path of

imagining your own future.

 

(Adapted from http://www.futuristspeaker.com/2011/11/55-jobs-of-the-future)

All the following verbs are used in the text in their literal meaning, EXCEPT