SPECIALIZED ENGLISH SCRIPT: SPOTLIGHT
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/10/04/1474064.htm
Further Information: See footer of script pages and 'Summary' in File/Properties.
(The writer, producer, and 'human friendly' title of the script are usually stated near the end of the script.)
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Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m xxx xxx.
{0-04}
Voice 2
And I’m xxx xxx. Spotlight uses a special English method of
broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no
matter where in the world they live.
{0-23}
Voice 1
In the summer of nineteen eighty four [1984], Barry
Marshall went to the hospital. He had serious pain in his
stomach. And he felt very sick and weak. Eating food hurt
him.
But he was not like most people visiting the
hospital. He was a research scientist. And he knew exactly
what was wrong. He had a stomach ulcer. And he had caused
this dangerous condition himself, as part of his research.
{1-11}
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight is on Barry Marshall, and his research
partner, Robin Warren. In two thousand five [2005], they
won the Nobel Prize for medicine. They won this award for
their research on stomach ulcers. By performing a dangerous
experiment, they changed the way doctors understand this
condition.
{1-42}
Voice 1
A stomach ulcer is a sore or damaged area on the inside of
the stomach or duodenum - the beginning of the small
intestine. A person with a stomach ulcer can be in a lot of
pain. He may feel sick. He cannot eat well and he becomes
weak. Stomach ulcers are a common problem. In the United
States nearly one in ten adults suffers with stomach
ulcers.
{2-27}
File: Document1 Electronic datestamps: Created 9-Nov-11, Printed: 6-Feb-16
Author: cprins) []
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Voice 2
In the past, experts believed they knew why people got
ulcers. The cause was stress or worry. Doctors describe
stress as a modern-day health problem. People with stress
feel that life is too difficult to manage. Their minds
cannot rest. They feel worried about many things.
{2-58}
Voice 1
The World Health Organisation describes stress as a
‘worldwide epidemic’. It affects many people around the
world. Research shows that stress is a cause for many
health problems. For example, it can damage the heart. It
can cause mental problems. But does it cause stomach
ulcers?
{3-29}
Voice 2
Robin Warren did not think so. He is a research doctor in
Australia. In the nineteen eighties, he began studying
ulcers. He thought there was a physical reason for them. He
operated on ulcer victims. He removed small pieces of the
damaged part of their stomachs. Then he looked carefully at
them under a microscope. He observed that the same small
bacteria were present in each of the stomachs of ulcer
victims. He published his findings.
{4-19}
Voice 1
In nineteen eighty one [1981] Barry Marshall was training
to become a doctor. He was working in the same hospital as
Robin Warren. When he learned about Warren’s work, he was
very interested. One of Marshall’s patients was suffering
greatly with stomach problems. He wondered if Warren’s work
could help people like that patient. So he began working
with Warren.
{4-59}
Voice 2
They called the bacteria Warren found in the ulcer victim’s
stomachs ‘Helicobacter pylori’ or ‘H pylori’ [H-pie-LOREY].
They estimated that the H pylori bacterium is found in the
File: Document1 Electronic datestamps: Created 9-Nov-11, Printed: 6-Feb-16
Author: cprins) []
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stomachs of about fifty [50] percent of the world’s
population. For most people, it does not cause a problem.
But Warren and Marshall thought that in around fifteen [15]
percent of cases the bacterium caused ulcers. Warren and
Marshall claimed that these people could be cured.
{5-47}
Voice 1
But doctors could only cure their patients if they changed
the treatment of ulcers. Doctors normally told patients to
reduce their amount of stress. Then they treated the
effects of the ulcer with antacids. This treatment reduces
the pain of stomach ulcers. But antacids do not kill the
bacteria. They cannot cure the condition. Patients
continued to experience many problems from the ulcers. But
Warren and Marshall wanted doctors to treat the stomach
ulcers using strong antibiotics. They claimed that these
drugs would kill the bacteria. The patients would then
start to recover. It would be possible to cure patients
completely.
{6-54}
Voice 2
However, the doctors and scientific experts did not believe
Warren and Marshall. They continued to believe that stress
caused ulcers - not bacteria. So what could Warren and
Marshall do? They had published their results. They had
shown their evidence to the world’s experts. But still no
one believed them. So Warren had a dangerous idea. He
decided to infect himself with the bacteria. Warren knew he
would become sick. But then people would know that the
bacteria caused stomach ulcers. He hoped that his action
would persuade the other experts that he was right. He
hoped that they would then support his work.
{8-03}
Voice 1
So Warren drank a liquid containing the H pylori bacterium.
He suffered from stomach pain and sickness. He went to his
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Author: cprins) []
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local hospital. The doctors there performed some tests
including an endoscopy. The endoscopy test let the doctors
to see the inside of Warren’s stomach. The doctors could
see the damaged areas. They observed the action of the H
pylori bacteria. Warren was quickly developing a stomach
ulcer. Warren’s wife urged him to think of his children and
get treatment, which he did. And his antibiotic medicine
worked. He had proved that H pylori causes ulcers, and that
antibiotics could cure an ulcer.
{9-12}
Voice 2
Warren’s experiment shocked the scientific world. Experts
now started to accept that Warren and Marshall were correct
in their thinking. Today, thanks to their work, many
patients with stomach ulcers can be cured. Scientists now
say that H pylori causes between eighty and ninety percent
of ulcers.
{9-43}
Voice 1
Warren and Marshall were having dinner together when they
heard about the Nobel Prize. They were very happy to
receive this honour. But they were even more pleased to be
able to help people suffering from ulcers. Barry Marshall
says that he would do it all again. He told the Nobel
Committee,
{10-18}
Voice 3
‘Somebody had to do it; somebody had to swallow the
bacteria and develop an ulcer. It was the only way to
persuade the scientific world’.
{10-35}
Voice 2
These two men had a difficult job making people believe
their research. But they continued to speak out. Now their
work has changed the way doctors deal with stomach ulcers.
Many people with stomach ulcers go on to develop stomach
cancer. So the antibiotic treatment now used could also be
File: Document1 Electronic datestamps: Created 9-Nov-11, Printed: 6-Feb-16
Author: cprins) []
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helping to prevent cancer in these patients. Many people
believe the world owes a lot to Robin Warren and Barry
Marshall.
{11-22}
Voice 1
The writer of this program was Elizabeth Lickiss. The
producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from
the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were
adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.
{11-47}
Voice 2
You can visit Spotlight on the Internet. Our address is w w
w dot radioenglish dot net. There, you can listen to this
program again, and read it at the same time. This program
is called, ‘The Ulcer Prize’. The website also has many
other Spotlight programs, our word list, more information,
and comments from other listeners.
{12-25}
Voice 1
If you have a comment or question about any Spotlight
program you can email us at radio at radioenglish dot net.
Or you can leave a comment on the script page of the
program on our website.
{12-51}
Voice 2
You can also find Spotlight on Facebook and Twitter - just
search for Spotlight Radio. We hope you can join us again
for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
{13-09}
{Count of active words (ie those to be read out):
1184}
{Times are approximate, based on 90 wpm reading speed.}
File: Document1 Electronic datestamps: Created 9-Nov-11, Printed: 6-Feb-16
Author: cprins) []
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