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With an estimated two and a half million Americans addicted to prescription opioids and heroin,
据估计，大约有250万美国人对处方类鸦片和海洛因上瘾，
medical intervention is increasingly important in responding to the epidemic.
如今这类现象极为普遍，医疗介入对于应对这一问题显得越来越重要。
The most commonly prescribed treatment is buprenorphine-naloxone, often administered to treat a narcotic overdose in an emergency situation.
最常用的治疗是丁基原啡因，经常用在麻醉剂过量的急救治疗中。
However, it has opioidlike effects and the potential for abuse.
然而，它有类鸦片效应和潜在的滥用现象。
In contrast, the drug naltrexone marketed as Vivitrol blocks the effects of opioids, but patients must be completely off opiates to start taking it.
相反，纳曲酮药物“Vivitrol”能抑制类鸦片效应，但患者必须完全戒除鸦片制剂后才能开始服用。
The two drugs are used in very different ways.
这两种药物的用途非常不同。
Naltrexone is a opiate blocker and so it's used after people have gotten off opiates so-called "after-detox"
纳曲酮是阿片受体阻断剂，所以它在患者已停止鸦片制剂后，也就是所谓“戒毒”以后，
and then want to maintain a opiate-free state, using naltrexone to help them.
如果他们想继续远离阿片，我们可以使用纳曲酮来帮助他们。
And then buprenorphine is used in more of a maintenance model where people switch without fully detoxing from a unhealthy opioid
而丁丙诺啡是在患者还没有“戒毒”完全的状态下作为维持剂使用的，患者还存在服用类鸦片药物的情况，
say heroin to buprenorphine which can be taken on a daily basis and then maintained for months and months in terms of long-term recovery.
比如用丁基原啡因代替海洛因，我们可以每天坚持使用丁基原啡因，坚持几个月的时间，这是一个长期的恢复过程。
Joshua Lee and colleagues at New York University School of Medicine led a study to compare the two therapies.
乔舒亚·李和纽约大学医学院的同事对这两种药物的治疗进行了比较。
A group of 570 opioid dependent adults who were still trying to kick their heroin habit in detox
570名类鸦片依赖患者试图消除对海洛因的依赖，
were given either a daily oral dose of buprenorphine while in treatment or six-monthly injections of naltrexone after completing treatment.
医生会让他们每天口服丁基原啡因，或是治疗完成后每个月注射“Vivitrol”，连续注射六个月。
Over the course then of six months, about the same amount of people that had started, did okay in terms of avoiding opiate relapse
在六个月的时间里，在接受治疗的患者中，差不多所有患者都没有再出现类鸦片上瘾情况，
and kind of surviving on treatment, doing reasonably well in terms of traditional outpatient opiate treatment goals.
按照门诊病人的传统治疗法，效果其实是非常不错的。
One caveat, a full 25% of the people scheduled to take naltrexone were not able to complete detox, so weren't able to get the shots
值得注意的是，有25%本应接受纳曲酮治疗的患者未能完成“戒毒”，所以无法接受注射治疗。
while only 6% of the other study group were unable to start their daily dose of buprenorphine.
而在另一组研究中，只有6%的患者未能完成口服丁基原啡因。
The researchers hope they're finding that the medications are equally safe and effective
研究人员希望他们可以知道这些药物也是安全有效的，
encourages clinics to expand their treatment offerings and save lives.
进而鼓励诊所扩大治疗范围，挽救生命。
I'm Faith Lapidus, VOA News.
VOA新闻，法斯·拉皮特斯为您报道。
