Alzheimer’s Is Not Normal Aging — And We Can Cure It | Samuel Cohen | TED Talks

Translator: Joaquín R.-Toubes Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

In the year 1901,

No ano 1901

a woman called Auguste was taken to a medical asylum in Frankfurt.

unha muller chamada Auguste foi levada a un psiquiátrico de Frankfurt.

Auguste was delusional

Auguste deliraba

and couldn't remember even the most basic details of her life.

e non lembraba nin os detalles máis básicos da súa vida.

Her doctor was called Alois.

O seu médico chamábase Alois.

Alois didn't know how to help Auguste,

Alois non sabía cómo axudarlle a Auguste,

but he watched over her until, sadly, she passed away in 1906.

pero mirou por ela ata que, por desgraza, ela faleceu en 1906.

After she died, Alois performed an autopsy

Logo de que morrera, Alois realizoulle unha autopsia

and found strange plaques and tangles in Auguste's brain --

e atopou placas e enguedellos estraños no cerebro de Auguste,

the likes of which he'd never seen before.

como nunca tal vira.

Now here's the even more striking thing.

Pero hai algo aínda máis rechamante.

If Auguste had instead been alive today,

Se Auguste estivese viva hoxe,

we could offer her no more help than Alois was able to 114 years ago.

non lle daríamos prestado máis axuda da que Alois puido darlle hai 114 anos.

Alois was Dr. Alois Alzheimer.

Alois era o Dr. Alois Alzheimer.

And Auguste Deter

E Auguste Deter

was the first patient to be diagnosed with what we now call Alzheimer's disease.

foi a primeira doente diagnosticada co que agora chamamos enfermidade de Alzheimer.

Since 1901, medicine has advanced greatly.

Desde 1901 a medicina leva avanzado moito.

We've discovered antibiotics and vaccines to protect us from infections,

Descubrimos antibióticos e vacinas para protexérmonos das infeccións,

many treatments for cancer, antiretrovirals for HIV,

moitos tratamentos para o cancro, antirretrovirais para o VIH,

statins for heart disease and much more.

estatinas para as doenzas cardíacas, e moito máis.

But we've made essentially no progress at all in treating Alzheimer's disease.

Pero practicamente non progresamos nada tratando a enfermidade de Alzheimer.

I'm part of a team of scientists

Pertenzo a un equipo científico

who has been working to find a cure for Alzheimer's for over a decade.

que vén traballando na busca dunha cura ao Alzheimer desde hai máis dunha década.

So I think about this all the time.

Así que penso nisto todo o tempo.

Alzheimer's now affects 40 million people worldwide.

O alzhéimer afecta actualmente a 40 millóns de persoas no mundo.

But by 2050, it will affect 150 million people --

Pero en 2050 afectará a 150 millóns...

which, by the way, will include many of you.

incluídos, por certo, moitos de vostedes.

If you're hoping to live to be 85 or older,

Se esperan vivir ata os 85 ou máis,

your chance of getting Alzheimer's will be almost one in two.

a súa probabilidade de ter alzhéimer

será case de unha entre dúas.

In other words, odds are you'll spend your golden years

Noutras palabras, o máis probable é que pasen os seus anos dourados

either suffering from Alzheimer's

ou padecendo alzhéimer

or helping to look after a friend or loved one with Alzheimer's.

ou axudando a coidar dun amigo ou dalgún ser querido que o padece.

Already in the United States alone,

Só nos Estados Unidos de América,

Alzheimer's care costs 200 billion dollars every year.

a atención do alzhéimer custa xa 200 mil millóns de dólares cada ano.

One out of every five Medicare dollars get spent on Alzheimer's.

Un de cada cinco dólares de Medicare gástase no alzhéimer.

It is today the most expensive disease,

É hoxe a doenza máis cara,

and costs are projected to increase fivefold by 2050,

e prevese que os custos se multiplicarán por cinco en 2050,

as the baby boomer generation ages.

ao envellecer a xeración do baby boom.

It may surprise you that, put simply,

Talvez lles sorprenda que, falando claro,

Alzheimer's is one of the biggest medical and social challenges of our generation.

o alzhéimer sexa un dos meirandes desafíos médicos e sociais da nosa xeración.

But we've done relatively little to address it.

Mais fixemos relativamente pouco para afrontalo.

Today, of the top 10 causes of death worldwide,

Hoxe, das dez primeiras causas de morte no mundo,

Alzheimer's is the only one we cannot prevent, cure or even slow down.

o alzhéimer é a única que non somos quen de previr, curar ou mesmo frear.

We understand less about the science of Alzheimer's than other diseases

Entendemos menos do alzhéimer que doutras doenzas

because we've invested less time and money into researching it.

porque investimos menos tempo e diñeiro en investigalo.

The US government spends 10 times more every year

O goberno estadounidense gasta cada ano dez veces máis

on cancer research than on Alzheimer's

na investigación do cancro que na do alzhéimer

despite the fact that Alzheimer's costs us more

malia custarnos máis o alzhéimer

and causes a similar number of deaths each year as cancer.

e causar cada ano un número de mortes semellante ao cancro.

The lack of resources stems from a more fundamental cause:

A falta de recursos xorde dunha causa máis fundamental:

a lack of awareness.

a falta de conciencia.

Because here's what few people know but everyone should:

Porque velaquí o que poucos saben, pero todos deberían saber:

Alzheimer's is a disease, and we can cure it.

o alzhéimer é unha doenza,

e podemos curala.

For most of the past 114 years,

A maior parte dos últimos 114 anos

everyone, including scientists, mistakenly confused Alzheimer's with aging.

todos, incluídos os científicos,

confundiron o alzhéimer co envellecemento.

We thought that becoming senile

Críamos que quedar senil

was a normal and inevitable part of getting old.

era unha parte normal e inevitable de ir vello.

But we only have to look at a picture

Pero abonda con ver unha imaxe

of a healthy aged brain compared to the brain of an Alzheimer's patient

dun cerebro vello san comparado co cerebro dun doente de alzhéimer

to see the real physical damage caused by this disease.

para decatarse do dano físico certo causado por esta doenza.

As well as triggering severe loss of memory and mental abilities,

Amais de provocar unha grave perda da memoria e das capacidades mentais,

the damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer's

o dano cerebral causado polo alzhéimer

significantly reduces life expectancy and is always fatal.

reduce sensiblemente a esperanza de vida

e sempre é fatal.

Remember Dr. Alzheimer found strange plaques and tangles

Recorden que o Dr. Alzheimer atopou placas e enguedellos estraños

in Auguste's brain a century ago.

no cerebro de Auguste hai un século.

For almost a century, we didn't know much about these.

Durante case un século, non soubemos moito acerca deles.

Today we know they're made from protein molecules.

Hoxe sabemos que están feitos de moléculas proteicas.

You can imagine a protein molecule

Imaxínense unha molécula proteica

as a piece of paper that normally folds into an elaborate piece of origami.

como un papel que normalmente se prega nunha elaborada figura de papiroflexia.

There are spots on the paper that are sticky.

No papel hai partes apegadizas

And when it folds correctly, these sticky bits end up on the inside.

e cando se prega axeitadamente, estas partes apegadizas acaban dentro.

But sometimes things go wrong, and some sticky bits are on the outside.

Pero ás veces as cousas saen mal, e algunhas partes apegadizas quedan fóra.

This causes the protein molecules to stick to each other,

Isto causa que as moléculas proteicas se peguen unhas ás outras,

forming clumps that eventually become large plaques and tangles.

formando masas que co tempo forman placas e enguedellos grandes.

That's what we see in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

Iso é o que vemos nos cerebros dos doentes con alzhéimer.

We've spent the past 10 years at the University of Cambridge

Pasamos os últimos dez anos na Universidade de Cambridge

trying to understand how this malfunction works.

tratando de entender como funciona esta anomalía.

There are many steps, and identifying which step to try to block is complex --

Hai moitos pasos, e identificar o paso que cómpre bloquear é complexo.

like defusing a bomb.

Como desactivar unha bomba.

Cutting one wire might do nothing.

Cortar un cable podería non facer nada.

Cutting others might make the bomb explore.

Cortar outros pode facer explotar a bomba.

We have to find the right step to block,

Temos que dar co paso que cómpre bloquear,

and then create a drug that does it.

e logo crear un fármaco que o faga.

Until recently, we for the most part

Ata hai pouco, case todo o que fixemos

have been cutting wires and hoping for the best.

foi cortar cables e confiar na sorte.

But now we've got together a diverse group of people --

Pero agora xuntamos un grupo diverso de persoas:

medics, biologists, geneticists, chemists, physicists, engineers and mathematicians.

médicos, biólogos, xenetistas, químicos,

físicos, enxeñeiros e matemáticos.

And together, we've managed to identify a critical step in the process

E xuntos, conseguimos identificar un paso esencial no proceso

and are now testing a new class of drugs which would specifically block this step

e estamos agora probando unha nova clase de fármacos para bloquear xusto este paso

and stop the disease.

e deter a enfermidade.

Now let me show you some of our latest results.

Permítanme amosarlles algúns dos nosos últimos resultados.

No one outside of our lab has seen these yet.

Ninguén fóra do noso laboratorio os viu aínda.

Let's look at some videos of what happened when we tested these new drugs in worms.

Vexamos uns vídeos do que pasou cando probamos estes fármacos en vermes.

So these are healthy worms,

Estes son vermes sans,

and you can see they're moving around normally.

e poden velos moverse normalmente.

These worms, on the other hand,

Estes vermes, porén,

have protein molecules sticking together inside them --

teñen neles moléculas proteicas pegadas,

like humans with Alzheimer's.

como os humanos con alzhéimer,

And you can see they're clearly sick.

e poden ver que están claramente doentes.

But if we give our new drugs to these worms at an early stage,

Pero se lles damos a estes vermes o noso novo fármaco nunha fase temperá,

then we see that they're healthy, and they live a normal lifespan.

vemos que están sans,

e a súa vida dura o normal.

This is just an initial positive result, but research like this

Este é só un primeiro resultado positivo,

pero investigacións coma esta amosan

shows us that Alzheimer's is a disease that we can understand and we can cure.

que o alzhéimer é unha enfermidade que podemos entender e podemos curar.

After 114 years of waiting,

Logo de 114 anos de espera,

there's finally real hope for what can be achieved

hai por fin unha esperanza real do que pode acadarse

in the next 10 or 20 years.

nos vindeiros 10 ou 20 anos.

But to grow that hope, to finally beat Alzheimer's, we need help.

Pero para alimentar esa esperanza,

para acabar vencendo ao alzhéimer,

necesitamos axuda.

This isn't about scientists like me --

Non é cousa dos científicos coma min;

it's about you.

é cousa de vostedes.

We need you to raise awareness that Alzheimer's is a disease

Necesitámolos para espertar a conciencia de que o alzhéimer é unha doenza

and that if we try, we can beat it.

e de que se o intentamos podemos vencela.

In the case of other diseases,

No caso doutras doenzas,

patients and their families have led the charge for more research

os pacientes e as súas familias lideraron a demanda de máis investigación

and put pressure on governments, the pharmaceutical industry,

e fixeron presión sobre os gobernos, a industria farmacéutica,

scientists and regulators.

os científicos e os lexisladores.

That was essential for advancing treatment for HIV in the late 1980s.

Iso foi esencial para progresar no tratamento do VIH a fins dos 80.

Today, we see that same drive to beat cancer.

Hoxe vemos o mesmo impulso para combater co cancro.

But Alzheimer's patients are often unable to speak up for themselves.

Pero moitos doentes de alzhéimer non poden defenderse por si mesmos.

And their families, the hidden victims, caring for their loved ones night and day,

E as súas familias, as vítimas ocultas, a coidar aos seres queridos día e noite,

are often too worn out to go out and advocate for change.

están a miúdo demasiado cansas para saír defender o cambio.

So, it really is down to you.

Así que de feito depende de vostedes.

Alzheimer's isn't, for the most part, a genetic disease.

O alzhéimer non é, polo xeral, unha enfermidade xenética.

Everyone with a brain is at risk.

Quenquera que teña cerebro está en risco.

Today, there are 40 million patients like Auguste,

Hoxe hai 40 millóns de doentes como Auguste,

who can't create the change they need for themselves.

que non poden por si mesmos crear o cambio que necesitan.

Help speak up for them,

Axuden a defendelos,

and help demand a cure.

e axuden a reclamar unha cura.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)