译锐双语-大多数人不清楚阿兹海默症初期可能出现的症状

　　If you're not familiar with the term "mild cognitive impairment," you're not the only one. More than 80% of Americans aren't familiar with this condition that affects up to 18% of people ages 60 and older and can lead to Alzheimer's disease, a new survey has found.

　　不了解“轻度认知损害”这个词的人并非只有你一个。一项新的调查发现，在年龄在60及以上的人群中，最多有18%的人会受到这种损害的影响。这种损害还可以导致阿兹海默症。而80%以上的美国人对这种损害不了解。

　　Mild cognitive impairment is an early stage of subtle memory loss or other cognitive ability loss, such as language or visual/spatial perception, according to research published Tuesday in the Alzheimer's Association's 2022 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report. The signs can be serious enough to be noticed by the affected person and loved ones, yet mild enough that the affected person can maintain their ability to do most activities of daily living.

　　根据周二发表在阿兹海默症协会《2022年阿兹海默症事实与数据报告》中的一篇研究，轻度认知损害是轻度记忆丧失或其他认知能力丧失的早期阶段。其他能力丧失包括语言或视觉/空间感知。这些症状可以严重到被相关的人和爱人所发觉，也可以轻微到受影响的人在日常生活中还可以做绝大多数的事。

　　Many people confuse this impairment, often called MCI, with normal aging, but it is different -- around one-third of people with mild cognitive impairment develop dementia due to Alzheimer's disease within five years, according to the research.

　　许多人会把这种损害，通常称为MCI和正常的老去相混淆，但两者其实是有区别的。根据研究，大约三分之一具有轻度认知损害的人会在5年之内由于阿兹海默症而出现痴呆。

　　Depending on the type of MCI people have, they might have trouble remembering conversations, keeping track of things, maintaining their train of thought during a conversation, navigating a usually familiar place or completing everyday tasks, such as paying a bill. Some individuals don't increasingly decline, and others revert to normal function, according to the report.

　　根据不同人所具有的MCI类型，他们可能在以下方面存在困难，比如记住对话、记住事情，在对话时保持思维连贯，找到一个平常熟悉的地方或完成每天要做的事，比如付账单。有些人的认知下降不会加重，而另一些人也可以恢复正常功能。

　　To better understand awareness, diagnosis and treatment of MCI in the United States, the Alzheimer's Association commissioned a survey of more than 2,400 adults and 801 primary care physicians at the end of last year. All answered questions online or over the phone. More than 80% of participants initially had little to no familiarity with MCI; then, when told what MCI was, more than 40% said they were worried about developing the condition in the future.

　　为了更进一步了解美国对MCI的认知、MCI 的诊断和治疗，阿兹海默症协会在去年年底正式委托展开一项针对超过2400名成年人和801位初级护理医师的调查。所有的问题都通过在线或电话的方式来回答。超过80%的参与者最初几乎或完全不了MCI；随后，当向参与者解释了什么是MCI后，超过40%的人表示很担心自己以后也会出现这种情况。

　　"It was surprising to validate that both the public and primary care physicians are challenged in the distinctions between mild cognitive impairment vs. what is deemed 'normal aging,'" said Morgan Daven, the vice president of health systems at the Alzheimer's Association, via email. "Those results underscore how much work we must do in continuing to educate."

　　Morgan Daven，阿兹海默症协会健康体系副主席在邮件中表示：“公众和初级护理医师分不清轻度认知损害和‘正常衰老’之间的区别，这一情况很让人吃惊。这一结果也让我们深知在继续教育方面我们还有许多工作要做。”

　　Eighty-five percent of adults said they would want to know early if they had Alzheimer's disease so they could plan, treat symptoms earlier, take steps to preserve cognitive function or understand what's happening, the research found.

　　研究发现，85%的成年人表示，他们愿意早点知道自己是否有阿兹海默症，这样他们就可以尽早安排并治疗并采取措施保留认知功能或了解正在发生的事情。

　　But despite this sense of urgency, these adults also showed reluctance to get professional advice if they started experiencing symptoms. Only 40% said they would talk to their doctor right away if they experienced symptoms of MCI. Concerns about getting help included possibly receiving the wrong diagnosis or treatment, learning of a serious health problem, or believing symptoms might go away.

　　尽管人们具有紧迫感，但是当开始有症状时，人们表现出其并不愿意获得专业的建议。仅仅有40%的人表示，如果出现了MCI的症状，他们愿意立刻找医生。关于寻求帮助的担心也包括可能会被错误诊断或治疗，发现严重的健康问题或相信症状可能会消失。

　　Hispanic and Black Americans were least likely to want to know early.

　　西班牙裔和非洲裔美国人是最想要尽早知道MCI 的人群。

　　导致轻度认知损害的原因

　　Multiple factors can contribute to MCI, so MCI is more an umbrella term than it is one specific condition, according to the research.

　　导致MCI的因素有很多，因此MCI是一种统称，而非某个特定的情况。

　　"It can be caused by things that are reversible, like vitamin deficiencies or medical conditions like thyroid dysfunction," said Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic in the Center for Brain Health at Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine.

　　Richard Isaacson，佛罗里达大西洋大学施密特药学院大脑健康中心阿兹海默症预防门诊主任表示：“MCI可能由可以逆转的因素所导致，比如缺乏维生素或疾病，比如甲状腺功能异常。”

　　"Some of the causes get better and some of the causes get worse. When a person has a neurodegenerative dementia, those people, obviously, will tend to decline."

　　“有些原因会使症状有所改善，而有些原因则会使症状加剧。当某人存在退化性失智症，那么这些人的认知显然更容易衰退。”

　　Other possible causes include medication side effects; sleep deprivation; anxiety; neurologic or psychiatric disorders; genetics; systemic disorders such as high blood pressure; stroke or other vascular disease; and traumatic brain injury.

　　其他可能引起认知受损的原因还包括药物的副作用；睡眠不足；焦虑；神经或精神疾病；遗传学；全身性疾病，比如高血压；中风或其他血管疾病；以及创伤性脑损伤。

　　In general, the variety of factors, broad symptoms and lack of an MCI test can make diagnosing MCI difficult and uncomfortable for many doctors, which the findings showed.

　　保护你的大脑

　　When physicians detect MCI in patients, they most often recommend lifestyle changes, do lab tests or refer patients to a specialist, the authors wrote.

　　当内科医师在对患者进行MCI检测时，他们通常还会建议改变生活方式，进行实验室检测或推荐患者去专科医生处就诊。

　　"People can take control of their brain health by making active changes in their daily life," Isaacson said. "It's not just all about exercise, diet, sleep and stress, but it's also medical conditions that primary care doctors can help optimize and treat -- like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes."

　　“人们可以通过在日常生活中做出积极的改变来掌控自己的大脑健康，”Isaacson表示。“改变不仅仅局限在锻炼、饮食、睡眠和压力，还包括初级保健医生进行优化治疗的其他病史，比如高血压、高胆固醇和糖尿病。”

　　来源：美国有线新闻网

　　翻译&编辑：上海译锐翻译