阿茲海默症，（俗稱的老年癡呆症，但並不建議用此稱呼），德國的精神病學家，愛羅斯阿茲海默於1907年提出此報告，因而得名阿茲海默。此病好發於65歲以上的老人，更是這個社會普遍的退化性疾病之一。在2006年，全球就有兩千六百多萬人罹患阿茲海默。據估計，2050年時，每85人會有一人罹患此病。阿茲海默患者首先可能會出現說話語義不清、東西常常忘記放哪裡，到漸漸出現人格與性情改變、易怒、忘記長期記憶等等.. 有看過「明日的記憶」嗎？裡面的男主角就是阿茲海默患者，照顧他的老婆一路下來也承受了許多煎熬。
病理上，阿茲海默症 患者會出現大腦皮質的及皮質下區域的神經元與突觸的損失，這是個不可逆的緩慢退化過程。然而，一直以來阿茲海默症為世人所擔憂的除了病症之外，就是它的不可預測性。原本健健康康的老人，怎麼會就這樣得病了呢？令人振奮的是，日前一項新出來的研究指出，阿茲海默症是有機會被預測的！
快來讀這篇來自CNN的新聞，一窺這令人大嘆科學偉大的研究吧～
Blood test predicts Alzheimer's disease
(CNN) -- In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have developed a blood test for Alzheimer's disease that predicts with astonishing accuracy（有著驚人的準確度）whether a healthy person will develop the disease.Though much work still needs to be done, it is hoped the test will someday be available in doctors' offices, since the only methods for predicting Alzheimer's right now, such as PET scans（一種檢驗胴體尤其是腦部新陳代謝的斷層掃描） and spinal taps（脊椎穿刺）, are expensive, impractical（不實用）, often unreliable and sometimes risky.Alzhe
這項驚人的研究報告指出，阿茲海默症有機會能經由抽血提早發現！如果進行的順利，希望能夠在醫學上更為普及，畢竟現有的預測方法，不但花費昂貴、不夠實用、時而不準確，甚至可能有些風險。
In the beginning, the researchers knew they wanted to find a blood test to detect Alzheimer's but didn't know what specifically to look for. Should they examine patients' DNA? Their RNA? Or should they look for the byproducts of DNA and RNA, such as fats and proteins?
研究者一開始並沒有確切方向，只知道要進行抽血檢測，但究竟該從哪裡下手、該檢驗哪個項目（DNA或RNA?還是脂肪或蛋白質？），可以說是毫無頭緒。
"This is a potential game-changer（potential 是潛在的，或有潛力的。game-changer 指能改變局勢的關鍵）," said Dr. Howard Federoff, senior author of the report and a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center. "My level of enthusiasm is very high."
The study was published in Nature Medicine.
相關領域的專家對此感到相當興奮：「這將會扭轉局勢。」
They decided to start with fats, since it was the easiest and least expensive. They drew blood from hundreds of healthy people over age 70 living near Rochester, New York, and Irvine, California. Five years later, 28 of the seniors had developed Alzheimer's disease or the mild cognitive problems（輕微的認知障礙）that usually precede（在...之前） it.
研究者抽取血液樣本，並以檢驗過程較簡單且經濟的脂肪作為測試項目。受試者為來自上百個這在美國不同區域、年過七十的老人。五年過去了，有28位老人相繼得到阿茲海默症，或是輕微的認知障礙這種得阿茲海默症前會出現的症狀。
Scouring more than 100 fats, or lipids（脂質）, for what might set this group apart, they found that these 28 seniors had low levels of 10 particular lipids, compared with healthy seniors. To confirm their findings, the researchers then looked at the blood of 54 other patients who had Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment. This group also had low levels of the lipids. Overall, the blood test predicted who would get Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment（認知障礙） with over 90% accuracy.
檢驗了大量種類的脂肪與脂質，研究人員發現這28個受試者都有一個共同點：他們在同樣某10種脂質上都較為缺乏，而與其他54位同樣也患有阿茲海默症或有認知障礙的患者比對，也有一樣的結果。這項檢測在預測阿茲海默症或認知障礙上，準確率高於九成。
The beauty of this test, Mapstone says, is that it caught Alzheimer's before the patient even had symptoms（在阿茲海默症敲門前先預知了可能性）, suggesting that the disease process begins long before people's memories start failing. He says that perhaps the lipid levels started decreasing at the same time as brain cells started dying..
專家認為，這證明了阿茲海默症早在記憶喪失前就已作用，也許，這些脂質數量開始下滑之際，腦細胞也開始凋亡..（但這句只是他的推測）
Plus, people could get a heads up (to give someone information or warning) that they were probably destined to get Alzheimer's. Although some people might not want to know that they're destined for a horrible disease, others might be grateful for the warning...
提早預知會不會得到阿茲海默症，就像是擁有某些不可思議的力量般，但也是令人又敬又怕的力量！不過話說回來，雖然有人可能並不想知道他們究竟會不會得（這跟算命如出一轍阿..），也許有些人反而能受益於此，因而能提早與家人、伴侶一起做好心理準備，也不失為一大福音。
想看完全文，請到下方網址，也有一些相關的短片可以參考。
註：此篇文章有多個專有名詞，若有誤譯，歡迎讀者指正喔！謝謝你們！另外，此項研究的受試者皆為白人，目前尚未有運用在其他人種的正式臨床實驗報告，且仍需要更完備的審核與計畫，然而，能透過某些特定脂質的檢測找出阿茲海默症的可能性，無疑已是醫學上一大突破！
Resource of the article: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/09/health/alzheimers-blood-test/index.html?iref=allsearch
"This is a potential game-changer（potential 是潛在的，或有潛力的。game-changer 指能改變局勢的關鍵）," said Dr. Howard Federoff, senior author of the report and a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center. "My level of enthusiasm is very high."
The study was published in Nature Medicine.
相關領域的專家對此感到相當興奮：「這將會扭轉局勢。」
They decided to start with fats, since it was the easiest and least expensive. They drew blood from hundreds of healthy people over age 70 living near Rochester, New York, and Irvine, California. Five years later, 28 of the seniors had developed Alzheimer's disease or the mild cognitive problems（輕微的認知障礙）that usually precede（在...之前） it.
研究者抽取血液樣本，並以檢驗過程較簡單且經濟的脂肪作為測試項目。受試者為來自上百個這在美國不同區域、年過七十的老人。五年過去了，有28位老人相繼得到阿茲海默症，或是輕微的認知障礙這種得阿茲海默症前會出現的症狀。
Scouring more than 100 fats, or lipids（脂質）, for what might set this group apart, they found that these 28 seniors had low levels of 10 particular lipids, compared with healthy seniors. To confirm their findings, the researchers then looked at the blood of 54 other patients who had Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment. This group also had low levels of the lipids. Overall, the blood test predicted who would get Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment（認知障礙） with over 90% accuracy.
檢驗了大量種類的脂肪與脂質，研究人員發現這28個受試者都有一個共同點：他們在同樣某10種脂質上都較為缺乏，而與其他54位同樣也患有阿茲海默症或有認知障礙的患者比對，也有一樣的結果。這項檢測在預測阿茲海默症或認知障礙上，準確率高於九成。
The beauty of this test, Mapstone says, is that it caught Alzheimer's before the patient even had symptoms（在阿茲海默症敲門前先預知了可能性）, suggesting that the disease process begins long before people's memories start failing. He says that perhaps the lipid levels started decreasing at the same time as brain cells started dying..
專家認為，這證明了阿茲海默症早在記憶喪失前就已作用，也許，這些脂質數量開始下滑之際，腦細胞也開始凋亡..（但這句只是他的推測）
Plus, people could get a heads up (to give someone information or warning) that they were probably destined to get Alzheimer's. Although some people might not want to know that they're destined for a horrible disease, others might be grateful for the warning...
提早預知會不會得到阿茲海默症，就像是擁有某些不可思議的力量般，但也是令人又敬又怕的力量！不過話說回來，雖然有人可能並不想知道他們究竟會不會得（這跟算命如出一轍阿..），也許有些人反而能受益於此，因而能提早與家人、伴侶一起做好心理準備，也不失為一大福音。
想看完全文，請到下方網址，也有一些相關的短片可以參考。
註：此篇文章有多個專有名詞，若有誤譯，歡迎讀者指正喔！謝謝你們！另外，此項研究的受試者皆為白人，目前尚未有運用在其他人種的正式臨床實驗報告，且仍需要更完備的審核與計畫，然而，能透過某些特定脂質的檢測找出阿茲海默症的可能性，無疑已是醫學上一大突破！
Resource of the article: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/09/health/alzheimers-blood-test/index.html?iref=allsearch
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