老年痴呆症症状出现之前的先兆一托福阅读机经背景.docxVIP

智课网TOEFL备考资料 老年痴呆症症状出现之前的先兆一托福阅读机经背景   Memory loss and mental confusion are the first overt signs of Alzheimers Disease, an incurable and fatal brain ailment.  记忆力丧失和心智混乱，是老年痴呆症最先出现的症状。这是一种无药可治的脑部致命疾病。  But scientists are starting to find evidence of the disease long before symptoms appear. In the latest research, MRI scans show telltale signs in the brain a decade before memory and thinking are affected.  但是，科学家们发现了远在这些症状出现之前就开始有的先兆。在最新的一项研究中，核磁共振成像扫描显示出脑部在记忆及思考能力受到影响前10年就已出现的迹象。  The pace of research aimed at understanding and preventing or treating Alzheimers has been frustratingly slow.  为了了解、预防或治疗老年痴呆症的研究步调，缓慢得令人沮丧。  A number of medicines have reached the market in recent years, but at best they only slow the progression of the disease.  近年来有些药物开始上市，但是那些药最多只能延缓这种疾病的发展。  Some researchers think that drugs may be more effective if theyre given sooner, before symptoms become apparent.  有些专家认为，如果在出现明显症状之前，及早进行药物治疗，效果可能会好一些。  A researcher at Harvard Medical School, Bradford Dickerson, is exploring an imaging technique that can identify characteristics of the brain that might signal the mental decline to come years later.  哈佛大学医学院的布拉德福德·迪克森正在研究一种成像技术，用来辨识大脑中一种可能预示多年后心智下降的特殊现象。  So we wanted to test MRI, which is something that we think would potentially be more accessible to people if we end up needing to screen large groups of older subjects for these kinds of changes, Dickerson says.  迪克森说：“我们希望试验核磁共振。我们想，如果今后需要对大量上年纪的人进行筛查，以发现这类改变，很可能就会更多地使用核磁共振成像技术。”  In a new study, Dickerson and his colleagues studied a group of men and women starting when they were in their 70s. At the outset, they were given standard tests, and all of them showed normal memory and mental function. They also got an MRI scan of the brain.  在一项新的研究中，迪克森和他的同事对一群70多岁的人进行检查。首先，他们接受一般性的测验。每个人的记忆力和心智功能都正常。他们同时也接受了脑部核磁共振成像扫描。  Around 10 years later, the participan