新奇事件簿 英国三分之一将会变痴呆

One in three people born in the United Kingdom this year will suffer from dementia in their lifetime. Dementia is when the brain no longer works properly because of illness, old age or injury. People with dementia have problems remembering things. Their personality can change and they lose their ability to do many everyday tasks. A leading mental illness charity said dementia would affect 27 per cent of boys born in 2015 and 37 per cent of girls. The charity said that this could cause a health crisis¹ as the population gets older. There is currently² no effective treatment to slow down or stop dementia. The charity said governments must spend more on research.

在2015年出生的英国人中，三分之一将患痴呆症。由于疾病、老龄化或是伤病，大脑无法正常工作，这也就引发了痴呆症。对于患痴呆症的患者，记忆力将会出现衰退。性格也会发生变化，并丧失日常活动能力。一家知名的精神疾病慈善机构称，在患有痴呆症的概率中，2015年出生的男婴为27%，女婴为37%。该机构称，随着老龄化的发展，痴呆症将会引发健康危机。目前，人们没有发现任何能够减缓或是治愈痴呆症的办法。该机构还称，政府需要增加对痴呆症研究的资金投入。

A British expert on dementia spoke³ about how serious the problem could become. Dr Matthew Norton said: "As people are living longer, more and more people will develop dementia in the future if action is not taken now." He added: "Dementia is our greatest medical challenge and if we are to beat it, we must invest in research to find new treatments and preventions." Globally, dementia affects around 36 million people. About 10 per cent of people develop the disease at some point in their lives, but this figure will rise sharply⁴ as people live longer. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's. This is when the brain loses cells, which reduces the brain's ability to function properly.

一位英国痴呆症专家就痴呆症的严重情况进行了讨论。马修·诺顿博士称：“随着人口寿命的增加，如果不采取行动，将会有越来越多的人患痴呆症。”他还称：“痴呆症是医学领域的最大挑战，如果我们想击败它，我们就必须在科研方明增加投入，寻找新的治疗方法和防御手段。”在全球，有大约3600万人患有痴呆症。有大约10%的人口会在某一阶段患痴呆症，然而，随着寿命的增加，这一数字还会增加。痴呆症中最常见的是阿尔茨海默病。该疾病是由于大脑细胞的减少而引起的，并随之影响大脑的正常工作。

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。