美国国家公共电台 NPR Scientists Push Plan To Change How Researchers Define Alzheimer's

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A large coalition¹ of brain researchers has unveiled a plan to redefine Alzheimer's disease. The goal here is to study Alzheimer's by focusing on biological changes in the brain rather than symptoms like memory loss. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE²: The plan offers a new and different way of looking at Alzheimer's. Clifford Jack³ of the Mayo Clinic says the old way worked like this.

CLIFFORD JACK: A person displayed a certain set of signs and symptoms, and it was expected that they had Alzheimer's pathology.

HAMILTON: Jack says researchers began to see the flaws in that approach when they took a close look at the brains of people receiving experimental drugs for the disease.

JACK: About 30 percent of people who met all the appropriate clinical criteria⁴ did not have Alzheimer's disease.

HAMILTON: Their memory or thinking problems were being caused by something else. So Jack says researchers began looking for more reliable ways of determining who really has Alzheimer's.

JACK: What we're saying now is that Alzheimer's disease is defined by the presence of plaques⁵ and tangles⁶ in your brain.

HAMILTON: Sticky plaques and threadlike tangles of proteins that build up over time. Jack says in this new view, researchers treat these abnormal proteins along with evidence of brain damage as hallmarks of Alzheimer's.

JACK: And symptoms become a result of the disease, not the definition of the disease.

HAMILTON: Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging says defining Alzheimer's by plaques and tangles also solves another big problem for researchers.

ELIEZER MASLIAH: There is a stage of the disease where there are no symptoms, and we need to have some sort of a marker.

HAMILTON: What scientists call a biomarker. And now there are a range of biomarkers for plaques and tangles. They are detected through special brain scans and tests of spinal⁷ fluid. Masliah says that means scientists can now do experiments that would have been impossible relying on symptoms alone.

MASLIAH: One could, let's say, start preventive treatment five years before the onset⁸ of the symptoms based on the presence of the biomarkers.

HAMILTON: Scientists outlined the new approach in several papers in the journal Alzheimer's And Dementia. But proponents⁹ say the new definition is intended for researchers, not doctors and their patients. That's because current biomarker tests are expensive, often difficult to perform. And, even if they find something, there's still no way to stop the underlying¹⁰ disease. Maria Carrillo is the Alzheimer's Association's chief scientific officer.

MARIA CARILLO: It's a research framework meant to be tested, a tool for researchers, not for the doctor's office.

HAMILTON: But she says a few doctors who specialize in Alzheimer's are already beginning to use tests for plaques and tangles.

CARILLO: Some of those physicians actually are able to incorporate some biomarkers to actually make a more precise diagnosis¹¹.

HAMILTON: That can help in some special cases. And Carillo hopes that when drugs to prevent Alzheimer's finally arrive, biomarker tests can show who should get them. Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

5 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。

6 tangles   

（使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Long hair tangles easily. 长头发容易打结。
• Tangles like this still interrupted their intercourse. 像这类纠缠不清的误会仍然妨碍着他们的交情。

7 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

8 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

9 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

10 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

11 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。