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

Translator: Alan Watson Reviewer: Wink Wong

In the year 1901,

喺1901年

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

有一個叫 Auguste 嘅女士

被送到法蘭克福嘅醫療精神病院

Auguste was delusional

Auguste 有幻覺

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

甚至記唔起最簡單嘅生活細節

Her doctor was called Alois.

佢嘅醫生係 Alois

Alois didn't know how to help Auguste,

Alois 唔知道點樣幫助佢

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

但佢仍然照顧佢

直至佢不幸喺 1906 年逝世

After she died, Alois performed an autopsy

病人死後，Alois 進行解剖

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

發現 Auguste 腦部 有唔尋常嘅班塊同物質纏結

the likes of which he'd never seen before.

佢從未見過呢種情況

Now here's the even more striking thing.

唔單止噉，更震撼嘅發現仲有

If Auguste had instead been alive today,

如果 Auguste 今日仍然在世

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

我哋同 114 年前 Alois 可以幫佢做嘅嘢一樣不多

Alois was Dr. Alois Alzheimer.

Alois 就係 Alois Alzheimer醫生

Alzheimer 中文譯做阿茲海默

And Auguste Deter

而 Auguste Deter

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

就係第一位病人

被診斷我哋宜家叫嘅「阿茲海默症」

Since 1901, medicine has advanced greatly.

自從 1901 年以黎

醫學發展迅速

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

我哋發現咗抗生素同發明咗疫苗

去預防傳染病

many treatments for cancer, antiretrovirals for HIV,

仲有好多抗癌療法

令愛滋病病毒喺抗病毒藥物

statins for heart disease and much more.

醫治心臟病嘅降膽固醇藥等等

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

但係對於治療阿茲海默症

總係停滯不前

I'm part of a team of scientists

我係一班科學家裏面嘅其中一個

我過去十年一直搵一種 治療呢個病嘅方法

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

So I think about this all the time.

所以我成日都諗住呢樣嘢

Alzheimer's now affects 40 million people worldwide.

阿茲海默症宜家影響全球四千萬人

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

到咗 2050 年

呢個病會影響 1.5 億人

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

在座好多人都會係其中一個

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

如果你諗著活到 85 歲或以上

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

你患阿茲海默症嘅機會幾乎係二分一

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

換言之，你一係喺你嘅黃金歲月

either suffering from Alzheimer's

患上阿茲海默症

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

一係就照顧患呢個病嘅朋友或至親

Already in the United States alone,

單喺美國每年就已經

Alzheimer's care costs 200 billion dollars every year.

花費咗二千億美元去照顧呢類病人

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

聯邦醫療保險裏面每五蚊嘅支出

就有一蚊用咗喺阿茲海默症度

It is today the most expensive disease,

呢個病係當今最貴嘅病

and costs are projected to increase fivefold by 2050,

隨著戰後嬰兒潮嘅人踏入老年

預計到 2050 年

as the baby boomer generation ages.

成本會增加五倍

你可能會覺得驚訝，簡單嚟講

It may surprise you that, put simply,

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

呢個病係我哋呢一代 喺醫療同社會方面

遇到嘅其中一個最大挑戰

But we've done relatively little to address it.

但我哋做咗唔係好多去應付呢個問題

Today, of the top 10 causes of death worldwide,

今時今日全世界最多人死亡嘅十個原因

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

只有阿茲海默症係唔能夠預防 醫好或者推遲惡化

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

我哋對呢個病嘅認識比其他病少

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

因為相對其他病嘅研究

我哋投資咗少啲嘅時間同埋金錢落去

The US government spends 10 times more every year

美國政府每一年花費喺癌症嘅研究

都比喺阿茲海默症高出十倍

on cancer research than on Alzheimer's

despite the fact that Alzheimer's costs us more

即使阿茲海默症嘅醫療費用較高

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

而且毎年嘅死亡數字同癌症相若

The lack of resources stems from a more fundamental cause:

呢個病之所以冇資源去研究，主要原因係

a lack of awareness.

啲人仲未去關注呢個病

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

因為只係得少數人知道一樣嘢

但其實我哋每個人都需要知道呢樣嘢

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

就係阿茲海默症係一種病

而且係可以醫好嘅

For most of the past 114 years,

喺過去114 年嘅大部分時間

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

所有人，包括科學家

都誤以為阿茲海默症係同年紀有關

We thought that becoming senile

我哋以前認為變得衰老

was a normal and inevitable part of getting old.

係老咗正常同無法避免嘅事

但只要睇下呢一幅圖

But we only have to look at a picture

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

一個健康人嘅腦部 同阿茲海默症病人嘅腦部

to see the real physical damage caused by this disease.

可以睇到呢個病所做成嘅身體傷害

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

仲會引致記憶同埋心理嚴重喪失

the damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer's

阿茲海默症對病人腦部造成損害

significantly reduces life expectancy and is always fatal.

大大縮短病人夀命

而且往往係致命嘅

Remember Dr. Alzheimer found strange plaques and tangles

仲記得一個世紀前

Alois 喺 Auguste個 腦部

in Auguste's brain a century ago.

發現異常嘅斑塊同物質纏結

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

過咗差唔多一個世紀

我哋仍然知道唔多

Today we know they're made from protein molecules.

今日我哋知道佢係用蛋白質分子構成

You can imagine a protein molecule

你可以將蛋白質分子諗成係一張紙

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

用黎摺紙

There are spots on the paper that are sticky.

紙面佈滿黐粒粒嘅點

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

如果摺得正確，啲點會喺紙嘅入邊

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

但有時摺錯，啲點就會喺出面

This causes the protein molecules to stick to each other,

噉樣令到蛋白質分子 黐埋一齊，變成一舊

forming clumps that eventually become large plaques and tangles.

最後變咗斑塊同一團纒結嘅嘢

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

阿茲海默病人嘅腦部就係咁樣

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

我哋喺劍橋大學花咗十年

trying to understand how this malfunction works.

去了解呢種病變嘅原理

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

但係裏邊有好多個步驟

要搵出邊一步去停止成個運作 係好複雜嘅嘢

like defusing a bomb.

好似喺拆彈一樣

Cutting one wire might do nothing.

剪一條電線可能拆唔到彈

Cutting others might make the bomb explore.

但係剪多一條，又可能會爆炸

We have to find the right step to block,

我哋必須搵到啱嘅一步去停咗去

and then create a drug that does it.

然後研發一種藥可以噉樣一步到位打擊

Until recently, we for the most part

直到最近，我哋將大部分時間

have been cutting wires and hoping for the best.

花喺阻止蛋白質演變嘅過程嗰度

希望得到好嘅結果

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

但係宜家我哋聯合不同界別嘅人士

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

有醫生、生物學家丶遺傳學家

化學家、物理學家、工程師同數學家

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

大家一齊搵出嗰個關鍵嘅步驟

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

宜家我哋試梗一種新藥

針對阻止關鍵嘅嗰一步

and stop the disease.

令到個病可以消失

Now let me show you some of our latest results.

宜家就由我帶你哋睇下

一啲最新嘅研發結果

No one outside of our lab has seen these yet.

實驗室出面嘅人都從來未睇過

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

宜家俾大家睇嘅片段

係我哋用蟲去測試新藥嗰陣發生嘅嘢

So these are healthy worms,

呢啲係健康嘅蟲

and you can see they're moving around normally.

你可以睇到佢哋正常咁周圍行

These worms, on the other hand,

但呢批蟲

體內嘅蛋白質分子卻係黐埋一齊

have protein molecules sticking together inside them --

like humans with Alzheimer's.

就好似有阿茲海默症嘅人一樣

And you can see they're clearly sick.

好清楚睇到佢哋係病咗

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

但如果我哋喺呢啲蟲病發初期，

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

俾啲新藥佢食，佢哋就會好返

可以健康生存到一般蟲嘅預期壽命

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

呢啲支持嘅數據只係初步嘅結果

不過類似嘅研究證明咗

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

我哋係可以了解阿茲海默症

個病仲可以醫得到

After 114 years of waiting,

等咗 114 年

there's finally real hope for what can be achieved

終於有望喺以後嘅十至廿年

in the next 10 or 20 years.

人類戰勝阿茲海默症

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

為咗繼續燃點呢個希望

為咗最終能夠擊敗呢個病

我哋需要幫手

This isn't about scientists like me --

唔係需要好似我噉嘅科學家

it's about you.

而係需要你

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

你需要知道阿茲海默症係一種疾病

and that if we try, we can beat it.

如果我哋肯嘗試，我哋可以打敗佢

In the case of other diseases,

至於其他病

patients and their families have led the charge for more research

病人同家人已經一早帶頭推動更多嘅研究

and put pressure on governments, the pharmaceutical industry,

向政府丶藥劑業、科學家同監管機構

scientists and regulators.

施加壓力

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

呢樣對於八十年代後期

HIV 治療嘅進步係非常重要嘅

Today, we see that same drive to beat cancer.

今日見到同樣一股動力去對抗癌症

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

但阿茲海默症病人就唔能夠 表達自己嘅意見

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

當病人家屬，亦係隱形嘅受害人

日以繼夜照顧佢哋至親

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

到要出嚟推動改革嘅時候

佢哋通常都已經好疲倦

So, it really is down to you.

所以宜家真係靠你哋

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

阿茲海默症對大多數人嚟講 都唔係一個遺傳病

Everyone with a brain is at risk.

每個人都有病發可能

Today, there are 40 million patients like Auguste,

今時今日有將近四千萬嘅人

好似 Auguste 一樣

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

當佢哋唔能夠為自己帶嚟改變嘅時候

Help speak up for them,

噉就請你哋幫佢哋發聲

and help demand a cure.

要求獲得治療

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲)