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SamuelCohen_2015S-_阿尔茨海默症跟衰老无关——我们一定能治好它_
In the year 1901, a woman called Auguste was taken to a medical asylum in Frankfurt. 1901年, 一个叫Auguste的女人被带到法兰克福医疗收容所。
Auguste:n.笨拙型马戏团小丑; asylum:n.庇护;收容所,救济院;
Auguste was delusional and couldn't remember even the most basic details of her life. Auguste有妄想症, 并且连生活中常见的琐事也记不住。
delusional:adj.妄想的;
Her doctor was called Alois. 她的医生叫做 Alois。
Alois didn't know how to help Auguste, but he watched over her until, sadly, she passed away in 1906. Alois不知道该怎么治疗Auguste, 但是一直都关注着她的病情,直到1906年她去世。
After she died, Alois performed an autopsy and found strange plaques and tangles in Auguste's brain -- the likes of which he'd never seen before. Auguste死后,Alois对她进行了尸检, 在她的脑子里发现了奇怪的斑块和纤维缠结—— Alois从来没有见到过这种情况。
performed:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好)(perform的过去分词和过去式) autopsy:n.验尸;[病理][特医]尸体解剖;[病理][特医]尸体剖检; plaques:n.斑块;瓷片;奖章;饰板(plaque的复数); tangles:n.缠结; v.使缠结;
Now here's the even more striking thing. 还有一件事更令人震惊。
If Auguste had instead been alive today, we could offer her no more help than Alois was able to 114 years ago. 如果Auguste生活在今天, 我们能为她提供的帮助也不会比在114年前Alois为她做的更多。
Alois was Dr. Alois Alzheimer . Alois就是爱罗斯·阿兹海默医生。
Alzheimer:n.阿尔茨海默病,老年痴呆症;
And Auguste Deter was the first patient to be diagnosed with what we now call Alzheimer's disease . 是被诊断为阿茨海默症的第一例病人。
Deter:v.阻止;制止;威慑;使不敢; patient:adj.有耐心的,能容忍的;n.病人;患者; diagnosed:v.诊断(疾病);判断(问题的原因);(diagnose的过去分词和过去式) disease:n.病,[医]疾病;弊病;vt.传染;使…有病;
Since 1901, medicine has advanced greatly . 从1901年到现在,医学得到了巨大发展。
advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) greatly:adv.很,大大地;非常;
We've discovered antibiotics and vaccines to protect us from infections , many treatments for cancer , antiretrovirals for HIV , statins for heart disease and much more. 我们发明了抗生素和疫苗来保护我们不受疾病的传染, 开发了许多方法来治疗癌症,抗逆转录病毒药物来治疗艾滋病, 还有抑制剂药物来对抗心脏疾病等等。
antibiotics:n.抗菌素;抗生素(如青霉素);(antibiotic的复数) vaccines:n.[药][计]疫苗; infections:n.传染病;口腔病害(infection复数形式); treatments:n.治疗;疗法;对待;处理;讨论;(treatment的复数) cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤; antiretrovirals:adj.抗逆转录病毒的,抗后病毒的; HIV:n.艾滋病病毒; statins:n.他汀类药物;抑制素(statin的复数形式);降低胆固醇药物;
But we've made essentially no progress at all in treating Alzheimer's disease. 但是在治疗阿茨海默症方面,我们几乎没有取得任何进展。
essentially:adv.本质上;本来; treating:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;处理;讨论;(treat的现在分词)
I'm part of a team of scientists who has been working to find a cure for Alzheimer's for over a decade. 我所在的科学家团队 用了十几年时间来寻找治疗阿茨海默症的方法。
So I think about this all the time. 所以我一直都在思考这个问题。
Alzheimer's now affects 40 million people worldwide . 目前全世界有4000万阿茨海默患者。
worldwide:adj.全世界的;adv.在世界各地;
But by 2050, it will affect 150 million people -- which, by the way , will include many of you. 但是到2050年,这一数字将是1亿5000万—— 很有可能包括我们在座的人。
by the way:顺便说一下;
If you're hoping to live to be 85 or older, your chance of getting Alzheimer's will be almost one in two. 如果你们想要活到85岁或更久, 那么每2个人中就有1个可能患上阿茨海默症。
In other words, odds are you'll spend your golden years either suffering from Alzheimer's or helping to look after a friend or loved one with Alzheimer's. 换句话说,本应安度晚年的你 要么会饱受阿茨海默症的折磨, 要么是需要照顾患有阿茨海默症的朋友或者爱人。
odds:n.几率;胜算;不平等;差别; golden years:[美国口语]退休时期(通常在65岁以后);
Already in the United States alone, 目前仅仅在美国,
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式)
Alzheimer's care costs 200 billion dollars every year. 阿茨海默症的治疗费用就会达到每年2000亿美元。
One out of every five Medicare dollars get spent on Alzheimer's. 每5美元的医疗保险费用就有1美元用在阿茨海默患者身上。
Medicare:n.(美,加)医疗保险(等于medicare);
It is today the most expensive disease, and costs are projected to increase fivefold by 2050, as the baby boomer generation ages. 它是目前最昂贵的疾病, 并且到2050年,费用可能增加5倍, 那时婴儿潮年代出生的人都步入了老年。
fivefold:adv.五倍地;五重地;adj.五倍的;五重的; baby boomer:生育高峰期出生的人;
It may surprise you that, put simply, 听上去可能有些不可思议,简单地说,
Alzheimer's is one of the biggest medical and social challenges of our generation. 阿茨海默症可能是我们这一代人所面临的最大的医学和社会挑战之一。
But we've done relatively little to address it. 但是我们采取的行动却少之又少。
relatively:adv.相当程度上;相当地;相对地;
Today, of the top 10 causes of death worldwide, 今天,全世界导致死亡的十个主要原因中,
Alzheimer's is the only one we cannot prevent, cure or even slow down. 阿茨海默是唯一一个我们无法预防、治愈甚至抑制的。
We understand less about the science of Alzheimer's than other diseases because we've invested less time and money into researching it. 我们了解阿茨海默症的原理并不像了解其他疾病那样多, 因为我们对其投入的时间和资金都相对较少。
diseases:n.[医]病(disease的复数);[医]疾病;[植保]病害;疾病种类; invested:v.投资;投入;(invest的过去分词和过去式)
The US government spends 10 times more every year on cancer research than on Alzheimer's despite the fact that Alzheimer's costs us more and causes a similar number of deaths each year as cancer. 美国政府每年花费在研究癌症上的费用 是研究阿茨海默症的10倍, 尽管用于治疗阿茨海默症的费用更多, 并且每年造成的死亡人数几乎与癌症相等。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱;
The lack of resources stems from a more fundamental cause: a lack of awareness . 但研究匮乏的一个根本的原因是: 对这种疾病不够重视和了解。
resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); stems:n.花草的茎或梗; v.阻止; (stem的第三人称单数和复数) fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的; awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道;
Because here's what few people know but everyone should: 因为几乎没有人知道这些本该人人皆知的事情:
Alzheimer's is a disease, and we can cure it. 阿茨海默是一种疾病,并且我们可以治愈它。
For most of the past 114 years, everyone, including scientists, mistakenly confused Alzheimer's with aging. 在过去的114年里, 几乎每个人,包括科学家都错误地把阿茨海默症和衰老混淆。
mistakenly:adv.错误地;曲解地,被误解地; confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
We thought that becoming senile was a normal and inevitable part of getting old. 我们认为老糊涂 是一种人在衰老后难以避免的常态。
senile:adj.高龄的;老衰的;高龄所致的; inevitable:adj.必然的,不可避免的;
But we only have to look at a picture of a healthy aged brain compared to the brain of an Alzheimer's patient to see the real physical damage caused by this disease. 但是我们只需要看一下这张 健康的老年大脑与阿茨海默症患者大脑的对比图, 就会发现这个疾病对大脑产生的实际的物理伤害。
compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词) physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查;
As well as triggering severe loss of memory and mental abilities, the damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer's significantly reduces life expectancy and is always fatal . 除了会导致一些严重的记忆和精神力的丧失, 阿茨海默对大脑的伤害 还会严重影响人的寿命,并且是致命的。
As well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; triggering:n.[电子]触发;起动;v.引起(trigger的ing形式);扣…的扳机; severe:adj.极为恶劣的;十分严重的;严厉的;苛刻的; significantly:adv.意味深长地;值得注目地; life expectancy:预期寿命; fatal:adj.致命的;灾难性的;毁灭性的;导致失败的;
Remember Dr. Alzheimer found strange plaques and tangles in Auguste's brain a century ago. 回想一下一百年前阿兹海默医生在Auguste大脑里 发现的奇怪的斑块和纤维缠结吧。
For almost a century, we didn't know much about these. 在将近100年时间里我们几乎对此一无所知。
Today we know they're made from protein molecules . 现如今,我们知道它们是由蛋白质分子构成。
protein:n.蛋白质; molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数);
You can imagine a protein molecule as a piece of paper that normally folds into an elaborate piece of origami . 你可以把一个蛋白质分子想象成 一张纸,被折叠成一个复杂的结构。
normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; elaborate:adj.精心制作的;详尽的;煞费苦心的;v.精心制作;详细描述;变复杂; origami:n.折纸手工;折纸手工品;
There are spots on the paper that are sticky . 在纸上有一些有粘性的点。
sticky:adj.粘的;粘性的;
And when it folds correctly, these sticky bits end up on the inside. 折叠正确时这些有粘性的点是在里面的。
But sometimes things go wrong, and some sticky bits are on the outside. 但有些时候弄错了,一些有粘性的点就会露在外面。
This causes the protein molecules to stick to each other, forming clumps that eventually become large plaques and tangles. 这就导致了一些蛋白质分子互相粘连, 行成了一些凝块,最终成为了大的斑块和纤维缠结。
clumps:块; eventually:adv.最后,终于;
That's what we see in the brains of Alzheimer's patients . 这就是我们在阿茨海默症患者大脑中看到的。
patients:n.接受治疗者,病人;(patient的复数)
We've spent the past 10 years at the University of Cambridge trying to understand how this malfunction works. 我们用过去的十年时间在剑桥大学 研究这种病变是如何产生的。
Cambridge:n.剑桥(英国城市);坎布里奇(美国马萨诸塞州城市); malfunction:n.失灵;故障,功能障碍;
There are many steps, and identifying which step to try to block is complex -- like defusing a bomb. 有许多步骤会导致病变,并且鉴定哪一步可以阻止病变非常复杂—— 就像是拆弹。
identifying:n.识别,标识;标识关系;v.识别;(identify的现在分词) complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施; defusing:v.化解;解除;缓和(defuse的ing形式);n.拆除;消除;减压;
Cutting one wire might do nothing. 切断一条线可能什么都不会发生。
Cutting others might make the bomb explore . 切断另一条炸弹可能就会爆炸。
explore:v.探索:探测:探险:
We have to find the right step to block, and then create a drug that does it . 我们必须要找到防止病变的关键环节, 然后发明一种药物来抑制这一步。
that does it:我受够了;
Until recently , we for the most part have been cutting wires and hoping for the best . 就在不久之前,我们都还在 切断一根根的线,并且期待最好的结果。
recently:adv.最近;新近; for the most part:adv.在极大程度上,多半; for the best:出于好意;
But now we've got together a diverse group of people -- medics , biologists , geneticists , chemists , physicists , engineers and mathematicians . 但是现在我们聚集了一群不同背景的人—— 医生、生物学家、遗传学家、化学家、物理学家、工程师和数学家。
diverse:adj.不同的;多种多样的;变化多的; medics:n.医学工作者;苜蓿(medic的复数); biologists:n.生物学家(biologist的复数); geneticists:n.遗传学者; chemists:n.化学家(chemist的复数);药剂师; physicists:n.物理学家;机械唯物论者(physicist的复数); mathematicians:n.[数]数学家(mathematician的复数形式);
And together, we've managed to identify a critical step in the process and are now testing a new class of drugs which would specifically block this step and stop the disease. 通过合作,我们成功地确定了病变中一个关键的步骤, 并且目前在测试一批新的药物来抑制这个步骤, 控制住病情。
critical:adj.鉴定的;[核]临界的;批评的,爱挑剔的;危险的;决定性的;评论的; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; specifically:adv.特别地;明确地;
Now let me show you some of our latest results. 我来给大家展示一下我们近期的成果。
No one outside of our lab has seen these yet. 目前为止还没有我们实验室外的人看到过这些。
Let's look at some videos of what happened when we tested these new drugs in worms . 让我们通过短片看一下用虫子测试这批新药的效果如何。
worms:n.蠕虫;寄生虫;幼虫;v.蠕动,曲折行进;(worm的第三人称单数和复数)
So these are healthy worms, and you can see they're moving around normally. （左边）这些是健康的虫子, 你们可以看到它们能够正常地蠕动。
These worms, on the other hand , have protein molecules sticking together inside them -- like humans with Alzheimer's. 而（中间的）这些虫子 体内有一些蛋白质分子粘连在一起, 就像是患有阿茨海默的病人。
on the other hand:另一方面;
And you can see they're clearly sick. 你们还可以看到它们明显生病了。
But if we give our new drugs to these worms at an early stage, then we see that they're healthy, and they live a normal lifespan . 但是如果在早期给这些虫子提供我们的药物, （在右侧）我们可以看到它们恢复了健康,并且可以存活正常的寿命。
lifespan:n.寿命;预期生命期限;预期使用期限;
This is just an initial positive result, but research like this shows us that Alzheimer's is a disease that we can understand and we can cure. 这只是一个初期的较为乐观的结果,但是像这样的研究 可以让我们知道阿茨海默是一个我们能够了解并且治愈的疾病。
initial:adj.最初的; n.(名字的)首字母; v.用姓名的首字母作标记(或签名)于; positive:adj.积极的;[数]正的,[医][化学]阳性的;确定的;n.正数;[摄]正片;
After 114 years of waiting, there's finally real hope for what can be achieved in the next 10 or 20 years. 在等待了114年之后, 我们终于看到了在未来的10至20年中 我们能够实现的期望。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
But to grow that hope, to finally beat Alzheimer's, we need help. 但是要想梦想成真,要战胜阿茨海默症,我们仍需要帮助。
This isn't about scientists like me -- it's about you. 这种帮助不是来自像我一样的科学家, 而是来自你们。
We need you to raise awareness that Alzheimer's is a disease and that if we try, we can beat it. 我们需要你们对阿茨海默症有更多了解, 并认识到如果我们去尝试,就可以打败它。
In the case of other diseases, patients and their families have led the charge for more research and put pressure on governments, the pharmaceutical industry, scientists and regulators . 就其他疾病而言, 患者及家属促成了更多的研究, 他们给政府,制药业, 科学家和管理者施加了压力。
charge for:索价,要价;为…收费; pharmaceutical:adj.制药(学)的;n.药物; regulators:n.调整者;调节阀(regulator的复数形式);
That was essential for advancing treatment for HIV in the late 1980s. 这种努力对于上世纪80年代后期推进艾滋病的治疗至关重要。
Today, we see that same drive to beat cancer. 今天,我们看到了在对抗癌症时同样的推动力。
But Alzheimer's patients are often unable to speak up for themselves. 但是阿茨海默症患者通常不能为自己说话。
And their families, the hidden victims, caring for their loved ones night and day, are often too worn out to go out and advocate for change. 而他们的家人,这些隐藏的受害者,每天都在照顾他们所爱的人, 他们通常都太疲惫,很难走出去寻求帮助。
advocate:v.拥护;支持;提倡;n.支持者;提倡者;辩护律师;出庭辩护人;
So, it really is down to you. 所以,这就成了落在你们肩上的责任。
Alzheimer's isn't, for the most part, a genetic disease. 阿兹海默症大多不是由遗传因素导致的。
Everyone with a brain is at risk. 每个有大脑的人都有患病风险。
Today, there are 40 million patients like Auguste, who can't create the change they need for themselves. 如今,有4000万像Auguste的病人, 他们自己无法改变现状来获得帮助。
Help speak up for them, and help demand a cure. 请帮助他们发声, 替他们推动阿兹海默症治疗的研究。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）