5. Review the information at p. 7-12. Read and translate the article. Write the annotation to the article. Dark Chocolate Could Prevent Heart Problems in High-Risk People

ScienceDaily (May 31, 2012)

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Dark chocolate (containing at least 60% cocoa solids) is rich in flavonoids – known to have heart protecting effects – but this has only been examined in short term studies.

So a team of researchers from Melbourne, Australia used a mathematical model to predict the long-term health effects and cost effectiveness of daily dark chocolate consumption in 2,013 people already at high risk of heart disease.

All participants had high blood pressure and met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, but had no history of heart disease or diabetes and were not on blood pressure lowering therapy.

With 100% compliance (best case scenario), the researchers show that daily dark chocolate consumption could potentially avert 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal cardiovascular events per 10,000 people treated over 10 years.

Even when compliance levels were reduced to 80%, the number of non-fatal and fatal events potentially averted was 55 and 10 per 10,000 people treated over 10 years, and could still be considered an effective intervention strategy.

The model also suggested that $A40 (£25; €31; $42) could be cost effectively spent per person per year on dark chocolate prevention strategies and could be used for advertising, educational campaigns, or subsidizing dark chocolate in this high risk population, they add.

The authors stress that only non-fatal stroke and non-fatal heart attack were assessed in their analysis, and that the potential effects on other cardiovascular events, such as heart failure, are yet to be tested.

Also important, they say, is that these protective effects have only been shown for dark chocolate (at least 60-70% cocoa), rather than for milk or white chocolate, probably due to the higher levels of flavonoids found in dark chocolate.

Nevertheless, they conclude that the blood pressure and cholesterol lowering effects of plain dark chocolate "could represent an effective and cost effective strategy for people with metabolic syndrome (and no diabetes)."

Module 6

1. Read and translate the text with the help of your own vocabulary which you are to write just the way it is done in practical modules, ex. 1.

Global Warming

Like the glass panes in a greenhouse, gases in the earth’s atmosphere permit the sun’s radiation to heat the earth but do not permit the infrared energy radiated back out by the earth to escape into space. These gases, primarily carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, are responsible for maintaining a global temperature acceptable to life, and this process is referred to as the greenhouse effect. As the gases increase, more heat is trapped within the atmosphere, and the worldwide temperature edges upward.

Within the last century, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased dramatically, largely because of the practice of burning fossil fuels—coal and petroleum and its derivatives. Global temperature has also increased 1° C (about 1.8° F) within the past century. Atmospheric scientists have now concluded that at least half of that increase can be attributed to human activity, and they have predicted that unless dramatic action is taken, temperature will continue to rise by between 1° and 3.5° C (between 1.8° and 6.3° F) over the next century. Although this may not seem like a great difference, global temperature was only 2.2° C (4° F) cooler during the last ice age than it is presently. The consequences of such a modest increase in temperature may well be devastating. Sea levels will rise, completely inundating a number of low-lying island nations and flooding many coastal cities such as New York and Miami. Many plant and animal species will probably be driven into extinction, agricultural regions will be disrupted, and the frequency of severe hurricanes and droughts is likely to increase.