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

翻译人员: Sunny Wang 校对人员: Wei Wu

In the year 1901,

1901年，

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

一个叫Auguste的女人被带到 法兰克福医疗收容所。

Auguste was delusional

Auguste有妄想症，

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

并且连生活中常见的琐事也记不住。

Her doctor was called Alois.

她的医生叫做 Alois。

Alois didn't know how to help Auguste,

Alois不知道该怎么治疗Auguste，

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

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

Auguste死后，Alois对她进行了尸检，

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

在她的脑子里 发现了奇怪的斑块和纤维缠结——

the likes of which he'd never seen before.

Alois从来没有见到过这种情况。

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,

如果Auguste生活在今天，

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

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。

And Auguste Deter

而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。

Since 1901, medicine has advanced greatly.

从1901年到现在，医学得到了巨大发展。

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

我们发明了抗生素和疫苗 来保护我们不受疾病的传染，

many treatments for cancer, antiretrovirals for HIV,

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，

statins for heart disease and much more.

还有抑制剂药物来对抗心脏疾病等等。

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。

I'm part of a team of scientists

我所在的科学家团队

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

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。

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

但是到2050年， 这一数字将是1亿5000万——

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

很有可能包括我们在座的人。

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

如果你们想要活到85岁或更久，

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

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

换句话说，本应安度晚年的你

either suffering from Alzheimer's

要么会饱受阿茨海默症的折磨，

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

要么是需要照顾患有阿茨海默症的 朋友或者爱人。

Already in the United States alone,

目前仅仅在美国，

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。

It is today the most expensive disease,

它是目前最昂贵的疾病，

and costs are projected to increase fivefold by 2050,

并且到2050年，费用可能增加5倍，

as the baby boomer generation ages.

那时婴儿潮年代出生的人都步入了老年。

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。

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

我们了解阿茨海默症的原理 并不像了解其他疾病那样多，

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

因为我们对其投入的时间和资金 都相对较少。

The US government spends 10 times more every year

美国政府每年花费在研究癌症上的费用

on cancer research than on Alzheimer's

是研究阿茨海默症的10倍，

despite the fact that Alzheimer's costs us more

尽管用于治疗阿茨海默症的费用更多，

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

并且每年造成的死亡人数 几乎与癌症相等。

The lack of resources stems from a more fundamental cause:

但研究匮乏的一个根本的原因是：

a lack of awareness.

对这种疾病不够重视和了解。

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,

在过去的114年里，

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

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。

We thought that becoming senile

我们认为老糊涂

was a normal and inevitable part of getting old.

是一种人在衰老后难以避免的常态。

But we only have to look at a picture

但是我们只需要看一下这张

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

健康的老年大脑与阿茨海默症患者 大脑的对比图，

to see the real physical damage caused by this disease.

就会发现这个疾病对大脑产生的 实际的物理伤害。

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

除了会导致一些严重的 记忆和精神力的丧失，

the damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer's

阿茨海默对大脑的伤害

significantly reduces life expectancy and is always fatal.

还会严重影响人的寿命，并且是致命的。

Remember Dr. Alzheimer found strange plaques and tangles

回想一下一百年前 阿兹海默医生在Auguste大脑里

in Auguste's brain a century ago.

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。

You can imagine a protein molecule

你可以把一个蛋白质分子想象成

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

一张纸，被折叠成一个复杂的结构。

There are spots on the paper that are sticky.

在纸上有一些有粘性的点。

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,

这就导致了一些蛋白质分子互相粘连，

forming clumps that eventually become large plaques and tangles.

行成了一些凝块， 最终成为了大的斑块和纤维缠结。

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。

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

我们用过去的十年时间在剑桥大学

trying to understand how this malfunction works.

研究这种病变是如何产生的。

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

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——

like defusing a bomb.

就像是拆弹。

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。

We have to find the right step to block,

我们必须要找到防止病变的关键环节，

and then create a drug that does it.

然后发明一种药物来抑制这一步。

就在不久之前，我们都还在

Until recently, we for the most part

have been cutting wires and hoping for the best.

切断一根根的线，并且期待最好的结果。

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

但是现在我们聚集了一群不同背景的人——

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

医生、生物学家、遗传学家、化学家、 物理学家、工程师和数学家。

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

通过合作，我们成功地确定了 病变中一个关键的步骤，

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

并且目前在测试一批新的药物 来抑制这个步骤，

and stop the disease.

控制住病情。

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。

So these are healthy worms,

（左边）这些是健康的虫子，

and you can see they're moving around normally.

你们可以看到它们能够正常地蠕动。

These worms, on the other hand,

而（中间的）这些虫子

have protein molecules sticking together inside them --

体内有一些蛋白质分子粘连在一起，

like humans with Alzheimer's.

就像是患有阿茨海默的病人。

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,

但是如果在早期给这些虫子 提供我们的药物，

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

（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。

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

这只是一个初期的较为乐观的结果， 但是像这样的研究

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

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。

After 114 years of waiting,

在等待了114年之后，

there's finally real hope for what can be achieved

我们终于看到了 在未来的10至20年中

in the next 10 or 20 years.

我们能够实现的期望。

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 --

这种帮助不是来自像我一样的科学家，

it's about you.

而是来自你们。

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

我们需要你们对阿茨海默症有更多了解，

and that if we try, we can beat it.

并认识到如果我们去尝试，就可以打败它。

In the case of other diseases,

就其他疾病而言，

patients and their families have led the charge for more research

患者及家属促成了更多的研究，

and put pressure on governments, the pharmaceutical industry,

他们给政府，制药业，

scientists and regulators.

科学家和管理者施加了压力。

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,

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，

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

他们通常都太疲惫， 很难走出去寻求帮助。

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,

如今，有4000万像Auguste的病人，

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

他们自己无法改变现状来获得帮助。

Help speak up for them,

请帮助他们发声，

and help demand a cure.

替他们推动阿兹海默症治疗的研究。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）