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

譯者: Wink Wong 審譯者: Muyun Zhou

In the year 1901,

在1901年，

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

有一名叫Auguste的女士 被送到法蘭克福的醫療精神病所。

Auguste was delusional

當時Auguste 有幻覺，

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

甚至記不起最簡單的生活細節。

Her doctor was called Alois.

當時病人的醫生是Alois.

Alois didn't know how to help Auguste,

Laois 不知道怎樣幫助她，

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

但他仍然照顧她， 直到她不幸地在1906年逝世。

After she died, Alois performed an autopsy

病人死後，Alois 替她解剖，

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

發現Auguste腦部 有不尋常的班塊和物質纏結

the likes of which he'd never seen before.

他從未見過這種情況。

Now here's the even more striking thing.

現在還有最令人苦惱的事情。

If Auguste had instead been alive today,

如果Auguste 換作今天仍活著，

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

我們比114年前Alois可以幫助她的實在不多。

Alois was Dr. Alois Alzheimer.

Alois 就是Alois Alzheimer（阿茲海默）醫生。

And Auguste Deter

而 Auguste Deter

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

就是第一位病人，確診現在稱為「阿茲海默症」。

Since 1901, medicine has advanced greatly.

自從1901年以來，醫學發展迅速。

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

我們發明了抗生素和疫苗預防傳染病丶

many treatments for cancer, antiretrovirals for HIV,

對抗癌症的療法丶愛滋病的藥物，

statins for heart disease and much more.

還有施德丁預防心臟病，多不勝數。

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

但是醫治阿茲海默症，還是停滯不前。

I'm part of a team of scientists

我是一羣科學家的一員，

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

致力尋求這個病的療法，已經超過10年。

So I think about this all the time.

所以我常常都想找到療方。

Alzheimer's now affects 40 million people worldwide.

阿茲海默症現在影響全球4千萬人。

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

到了2050年，這個病還會影響1.5億人--

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

順便一提，在座很多人也會包括在內。

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

如果你想活到85歲或以上，

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

你患阿茲海默症的機會幾乎是1/2。

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

換言之，你很可能耗盡你的黃金歲月，

either suffering from Alzheimer's

不是受到阿茲海默症的折磨，

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

就是照顧患這個病的友人或至愛。

Already in the United States alone,

僅僅在美國每年已經

Alzheimer's care costs 200 billion dollars every year.

要花費2千億美元照顧這類病人。

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

每5元的醫療保險 便有一元花在阿茲海默症治療。

It is today the most expensive disease,

這是今天花費最昂貴的疾病。

and costs are projected to increase fivefold by 2050,

預計到了2050年，成本會增加5倍，

as the baby boomer generation ages.

隨著嬰兒潮一代變老。

It may surprise you that, put simply,

這樣可能令你吃驚，簡單來說，

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

這個病是我們這一代 醫療、社會遇到的最大挑戰。

But we've done relatively little to address it.

但我們較少關注這個問題。

Today, of the top 10 causes of death worldwide,

今日全球十大的致命原因，

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

只有阿茲海默症是不能預防、 治愈或者甚至減慢惡化。

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

我們認識這個病比其他病症貧乏。

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

因為投資了很少時間和金錢來研究它。

The US government spends 10 times more every year

美國政府每年花费在癌症研究

on cancer research than on Alzheimer's

比在阿茲海默症的高10倍有多。

despite the fact that Alzheimer's costs us more

儘管我們花在阿茲海默症費用較多，

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

而且毎年的死亡數字跟癌症相若。

The lack of resources stems from a more fundamental cause:

這個病資源缺乏的主要原因：

a lack of awareness.

人們還未醒覺到這個病的嚴重。

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

因為只是少數人知道是不夠的， 而是每個人都如是：

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

阿茲海默症是一種病，而我們可以治好它。

For most of the past 114 years,

在過去114年的大部分時間，

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

所有人包括科學家， 誤以為年老引致阿茲海默症。

We thought that becoming senile

我們以往認為老年病是

was a normal and inevitable part of getting old.

是衰老過程中不可避免的現象。

But we only have to look at a picture

但是只要看看這一幅圖

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

比較一個健康的老人腦部 和阿茲海默症病人的腦部，

to see the real physical damage caused by this disease.

來認識這個病對身體做成的傷害。

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

還引致嚴重失憶和心智能力退化，

the damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer's

阿茲海默症損害病人腦部，

significantly reduces life expectancy and is always fatal.

明顯地降低病人的預期夀命， 更往往足以致命。

Remember Dr. Alzheimer found strange plaques and tangles

還記得一個世紀前， Alzheimer醫生在Auguste腦部，

in Auguste's brain a century ago.

發現異常的塊狀和物質纏結。

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

差不多過了一個世紀，我們仍然所知不多。

Today we know they're made from protein molecules.

今日我們知道它是用蛋白質分子製成。

You can imagine a protein molecule

你可以把蛋白質分子想像成一張紙，

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

常常用來折疊精巧的摺紙作品。

There are spots on the paper that are sticky.

紙面佈滿粘性小點，

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

如果摺得正確，那些小點最後留在作品裡面。

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

可是有時摺疊出錯，有些粘性小點留在外面。

This causes the protein molecules to stick to each other,

這樣令到蛋白質分子互相粘著一起，

forming clumps that eventually become large plaques and tangles.

變成一塊，最後結成大塊和纒結。

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

阿茲海默病人的腦部就是這樣。

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

我們在劍橋大學花了10時間，

trying to understand how this malfunction works.

想了解這種錯誤機能的原理。

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

但有很多步驟， 若要找出那一個步需要停止很複雜。

like defusing a bomb.

好像在拆除一個炸彈一樣。

Cutting one wire might do nothing.

剪去一條電線未必有用。

Cutting others might make the bomb explore.

但是再剪下一條，可能引起炸彈爆炸。

We have to find the right step to block,

我們必須找到關鍵的一步加以制止，

and then create a drug that does it.

然後對症下藥。

Until recently, we for the most part

直到最近，我們把大部分時間

have been cutting wires and hoping for the best.

花在剪斷迴路，希望得到好結果。

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

但是現在我們聯合不同背景的人--

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

有醫生、生物學家丶遺傳學家丶化學家等等。

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

大家一切找出那個重要的步驟，

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

現正試驗新藥，將專門阻止它，

and stop the disease.

然後打退疾病。

Now let me show you some of our latest results.

現在由我來給你看其中最新的結果。

No one outside of our lab has seen these yet.

實驗室以㚈的人從未看過。

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

現在讓大家看看影片，我們把蟲用作新藥試驗後， 發生了什麼事。

So these are healthy worms,

這是健康蟲，

and you can see they're moving around normally.

你可以看到它們正常地周圍移動。

These worms, on the other hand,

但是這批蟲

have protein molecules sticking together inside them --

身體內的蛋白質分子卻粘著一起--

like humans with Alzheimer's.

就如患有阿茲海默症的人類。

And you can see they're clearly sick.

很清楚看到牠們是病了。

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

但如果我們在這些蟲患病初期給予新藥，

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

牠們便會康復，並生存到常規壽命

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

這只是初步的正面結果，不過類似的研究

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

證明我們可以了解阿茲海默症，還可以治好它。

After 114 years of waiting,

等了114年，

there's finally real hope for what can be achieved

終於有希望在以後的10至20年 打敗阿茲海默症。

in the next 10 or 20 years.

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

為了繼續燃點希望和最終擊敗這個病，

我們需要援助。

This isn't about scientists like me --

不是需要像我這班科學家。

it's about you.

而是需要你的幫忙。

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

提高對阿茲海默症是疾病的認知；

and that if we try, we can beat it.

如果我們肯嘗試，必定能夠打敗它。

In the case of other diseases,

至於其他病例，

patients and their families have led the charge for more research

病人和家人帶頭要求做更多的研究，

and put pressure on governments, the pharmaceutical industry,

施加壓力給政府丶藥劑業丶

scientists and regulators.

科學家和監管機構。

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

這對於1980晚期，改善HIV治療非常重要的。

Today, we see that same drive to beat cancer.

今天也見到同樣的幹勁去打擊癌症。

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

但阿茲海默症病人常常不能表達自己的意見。

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

病人家屬--隱形受害人，日以繼夜照顧病人，

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

再走出來推動改革，通常已經疲憊不堪。

So, it really is down to you.

所以現在真是只靠你了。

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

阿茲海默症並不全部是遺傳病。

Everyone with a brain is at risk.

每個有腦的人都有危險。

Today, there are 40 million patients like Auguste,

今日有將近4千萬好像Auguste的病人，

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

他們不能替自己的需要推行改革。

Help speak up for them,

請替他們發聲，

and help demand a cure.

要求治療的良方。

Thank you.

多謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲)