VOA慢速英语2012 Health Report - Dementia Cases May Triple by 2050 as World Ages

Health Report - Dementia Cases May Triple by 2050 as World Ages

健康报道 - 随着全球老龄化，到2050年老年痴呆症病例可能增至3倍

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

Dementia is the loss of mental abilities caused by brain disorders¹ that affect memory, thinking, behavior and judgment². The most common cause of dementia, especially in older people, is Alzheimer's disease. It causes up to seventy percent of dementia cases.

老年痴呆症是由大脑功能紊乱引起的心智能力丧失，这种大脑功能紊乱会影响到记忆、思维、行为和判断。老年痴呆症最常见的原因，特别是在中老年人中最常见的原因是阿尔茨海默氏症，70%以上的老年痴呆症病例是由阿尔茨海默氏症引起的。

Worldwide an estimated thirty-six million people are living with dementia. A new report predicts that number will increase to more than one hundred fifteen million by twenty-fifty.

全球估计有3600万人患有老年痴呆症。一份新的报告预测称，到2050年前，这一数字将会增加到1.15亿以上。

The report is from the World Health Organization and Alzheimer's Disease International. Marc Wortman is the executive director of this group of seventy-eight Alzheimer's associations.

这份报告来自世界卫生组织和国际阿尔茨海默氏病协会（Alzheimer’s Disease International,ADI）。马克·沃特曼是这家由78个阿尔茨海默氏病协会组成的国际性组织的执行理事。

MARC WORTMANN: "There is a new case now in every four seconds, a new case of dementia in the world. Only ten years ago, it was calculated at one in seven seconds, so it is speeding up. And if you look into the future projections³, it may be close to one in every second by the year twenty-fifty. So we need to act. We need to do something to stop this epidemic⁴."

沃特曼：“现在全球每4秒会出现一个老年痴呆症新病例，十年前还是每7秒出现一个新病例，所以说它正在加速。如果你看看未来预期，到2050年它可能接近每秒出现一个新病例。所以我们必须采取行动，我们需要做些事情来阻止这种流行病。”

The number of cases in the heavily populated developing world is expected to grow as more people live longer. The report says more than half of those with dementia now live in low- and middle-income countries. This number is likely to rise to more than seventy percent by twenty-fifty.

在人口稠密的发展中国家，随着人们寿命的增加，这一病例的数字预计也会增长。该报告称，50%以上的老年痴呆症患者目前居住在中低收入国家，到2050年这一数字可能会上升到70%以上。

People are living longer because of better health care and increasing wealth. But the report says dementia is not a normal part of growing old.

由于医疗改善和财富增加，人们寿命更长。但该报告称，老年痴呆症不是人们衰老过程中的正常组成部分。

Shekhar Saxena is the director of mental health and substance abuse research at the WHO.

谢卡·萨克斯纳（Shekhar Saxena）是世界卫生组织心理健康与药物滥用研究部门的主任。

SHEKHAR SAXENA: "Dementia is often not recognized. It is commonly mistaken for an age-related decline in functioning because it can mimic⁵ age-related problems, and also it progresses slowly. Even in high-income countries, only one-fifth to one-half of the cases of dementia are routinely recognized. This percentage is obviously much lower in middle and low-income countries."

萨克斯纳：“老年痴呆症常常未被诊断出来，它通常被误认为是一种和年龄有关的身体机能下降，因为它与年龄相关问题类似。即使是在高收入国家也只有1/5到1/2的老年痴呆症病例被常规诊断出来，这一比例在中低收入国家中显然更低。”

Martin Prince is a professor at Kings College London. He says many people wrongly believe that dementia and Alzheimer's disease are not problems in poorer countries.

马丁·普林斯（Martin Prince）是伦敦国王学院教授。他说许多人错误地认为老年痴呆症和阿尔茨海默氏病在贫穷国家不是个问题。

MARTIN PRINCE: "There have been some more studies done recently in western Africa, which, I think give the lie to the notion that Alzheimer's disease is very rare amongst all the people in Africa. There are fewer older people because life expectancy⁶ is shorter, particularly with the ravages⁷ of HIV. But, amongst people who live into old age, the prevalence of dementia looks quite similar to high-income countries."

普林斯：“我认为最近在西非完成的一些研究拆穿了阿尔茨海默氏症在非洲人民当中非常罕见的谎言。由于人均寿命短，特别是艾滋病病毒肆掠，这里的老年人很少。但在进入老年的人们当中，老年痴呆症患病率和高收入国家颇为相似。”

The world currently spends more than six hundred billion dollars a year to treat and care for people with dementia. Yet the WHO says only eight countries currently have national programs in place to deal with dementia.

全球目前每年在治疗和照顾老年痴呆症患者上花费了6千亿美元以上。但世界卫生组织官员表示，只有8个国家准备好了应对老年痴呆症的全国性方案。

It urges greater efforts to identify dementia early, educate the public and provide better care. Dementia may be incurable⁸, but health officials say much can be done to improve the lives of people who have it, and support their families and caregivers.

世界卫生组织督促做出更大努力以便早期诊断出老年痴呆症，教育公众并提供更好的照顾。老年痴呆症可能是不治之症，但卫生官员说，我们可以做很多事情来改善老年痴呆症患者的生活，并对他们的家人和照顾者提供支持。

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Jim Tedder⁹.

___

Contributing: Lisa Schlein

1 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

3 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

4 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

5 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

6 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

7 ravages   

劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹

参考例句：

• the ravages of war 战争造成的灾难
• It is hard for anyone to escape from the ravages of time. 任何人都很难逃避时间的摧残。

8 incurable   

adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人

参考例句：

• All three babies were born with an incurable heart condition.三个婴儿都有不可治瘉的先天性心脏病。
• He has an incurable and widespread nepotism.他们有不可救药的，到处蔓延的裙带主义。

9 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网