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For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer's disease.
研究人员首次发现了阿尔茨海默病晚期的基因形式。
Alzheimer's is a disease of the brain that causes people to lose their memory and mental abilities as they grow old.
阿尔茨海默病是一种脑部疾病，随着年龄的增长，人们会失去记忆和智力。
Scientists have long known a gene called APOE4 is one of the many things that can increase a person's risk for Alzheimer's.
科学家们早就知道，一种名为APOE4的基因是增加一个人患阿尔茨海默氏症风险的众多因素之一。
One risk includes simply getting old; most Alzheimer's cases appear after age 65.
一种风险包括简单地变老；大多数阿尔茨海默氏症患者出现在65岁之后。
But new research suggests that a cause of the disease is carrying two copies of the APOE4 gene.
但新的研究表明，造成这种疾病的一个原因是携带了两个副本的APOE4基因。
People with two copies of APOE4 inherited the gene from both parents.
携带两个APOE4基因的人从父母双方那里继承了这种基因。
Those patients may experience signs of Alzheimer's seven to 10 years sooner than other adults who develop Alzheimer's, the research found.
研究发现，这些患者可能比其他发展为阿尔茨海默氏症的成年人早7到10年出现阿尔茨海默氏症的迹象。
Dr. Juan Fortea led the study. He is with the Sant Pau Reasearch Institute in Barcelona, Spain.
西班牙巴塞罗那的圣保罗研究所工作的胡安·福特亚博士领导了这项研究。。
He said the findings mark a difference with "profound implications."
他表示，这一发现标志着一个具有“深远的影响”的差异的出现。
An estimated 15 percent of Alzheimer's patients carry two copies of APOE4.
据估计，15%的阿尔茨海默氏症患者携带两份APOE4。
Those cases "can be tracked back to a cause and the cause is in the genes," Fortea said.
福塔说，这些病例“可以追溯到一个原因，并且这个原因就在于基因。”
Until now, genetic forms of Alzheimer's were thought to be only kinds that appear at much younger ages.
在此之前，人们一直认为遗传性阿尔茨海默氏症只出现在更年轻的年龄段。
They were also thought to make up less than one percent of all cases.
他们也被认为在所有病例中所占比例不到1%。
Scientists say the new research shows the importance of developing treatments that target the APOE4 genes.
科学家们说，这项新研究表明了开发针对APOE4基因的治疗方法的重要性。
Dr. Reisa Sperling is with Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
雷莎-斯珀林博士就职于位于波士顿的哈佛大学布里格姆妇女医院。
She helped write the study, which appeared recently in the publication Nature Medicine.
她帮助撰写了这项研究，该研究最近发表在《自然医学》杂志上。
She said some doctors will not offer the only drug that has been shown to slow the disease, Leqembi, to people with the gene pair.
她表示，一些医生不会向携带这对基因的人提供唯一被证明可以减缓疾病的药物Leqembi。
She said that they are not offered the drug because those patients are at an especially high risk of developing a dangerous side effect.
她说，不给患者提供这种药物是因为他们出现危险副作用的风险特别高。
Sperling studies ways to prevent or at least delay Alzheimer's.
斯珀林研究预防或至延缓阿尔茨海默症的方法。
She said, "This data for me says wow, what an important group to be able to go after before they become symptomatic."
她说："对我来说，这些数据告诉我，在他们出现症状之前，能够对他们进行治疗是多么重要的一件事。
But the news does not mean people should race for a gene test.
但这一消息并不意味着人们应该争先恐后地进行基因测试。
She told The Associated Press, "It's important not to scare everyone who has a family history" of Alzheimer's.
她告诉美联社，“重要的是不要吓到所有有阿尔茨海默氏症家族史的人”。
She said the gene pair is not the cause of most cases of the disease.
她说，这对基因并不是大多数病例的原因。
More than 6 million Americans, and millions more worldwide, have Alzheimer's.
有600多万美国人患有阿尔茨海默氏症，全世界还有数百万人。
Some genes are known to cause rare "early-onset forms."
已知一些基因会导致罕见的“早发型”。
This is where changes in the genes are passed through families that can cause symptoms to appear by age 50. But Alzheimer's most commonly appears after 65. Most cases begin after the age of 70. The APOE gene was known to play some part.
这就是基因变化通过家庭传递的地方，这些家庭可能会导致症状在50岁之前出现。但阿尔茨海默氏症最常出现在65岁以后。大多数病例开始于70岁以后，目前已知APOE基因起到了一定的作用。
Most people carry the APOE3 gene that appears to neither increase nor decrease Alzheimer's risk.
大多数人携带的APOE3基因似乎既不会增加也不会降低阿尔茨海默氏症的风险。
Some carry APOE2, which provides some protection against Alzheimer's.
一些人携带APOE2，它可以预防阿尔茨海默氏症。
APOE4 has long been called the biggest genetic risk factor for late-in-life Alzheimer's, with two copies riskier than one.
长期以来，APOE4一直被认为是晚年阿尔茨海默氏症最大的遗传风险因素，两个基因比一个基因风险更高。
About two percent of the world's population is estimated to have a copy of the gene from both parents.
据估计，世界上约2%的人口拥有父母双方的基因副本。
Fortea's team used data from over 3,000 brains donated for research and from more than 10,000 people in U.S. and European Alzheimer's studies.
福特亚的团队使用了来自3000多个捐赠用于研究的大脑和来自美国和欧洲阿尔茨海默氏症研究的1万多人的数据。
The team's aim was to better understand genes' role in Alzheimer's.
该团队的目标是更好地了解基因在阿尔茨海默氏症中的作用。
They examined symptoms and early signs of Alzheimer's such as sticky amyloid in the brain.
他们检查了阿尔茨海默氏症的症状和早期体征，例如大脑中的粘性淀粉样蛋白。
Amyloid is a protein that can exist in different body parts, including the brain, with certain diseases.
淀粉样蛋白是一种蛋白质，可以存在于身体的不同部位，包括大脑，并伴随着某些疾病。
The researchers found that people with two APOE4 copies were gaining more amyloid at age 55 than those with just one copy of APOE4.
研究人员发现，有两个APOE4基因的人在55岁时比只有一个APOE4基因的人获得更多的淀粉样蛋白。
They were also gaining more amyloid than people who had the "neutral" APOE3 gene.
他们也比那些携带“中性”APOE3基因的人获得了更多的淀粉样蛋白。
By age 65, brain imaging showed large amounts of harmful amyloid buildup in nearly 75 percent of individuals with two copies of APOE4.
到65岁时，脑成像显示，在拥有两个APOE4基因的人中，近75%的人体内有大量有害的淀粉样蛋白积聚。
Those individuals were also more likely to have beginning Alzheimer's symptoms by that age rather than later in life.
这些人也更有可能在那个年龄而不是在晚年开始出现阿尔茨海默氏症的症状。
Sperling noted that not everyone with two APOE4 genes develops Alzheimer's symptoms. Researchers hope to learn why.
斯珀林指出，并不是每个携带两个APOE4基因的人都会出现阿尔茨海默氏症症状。研究人员希望了解其中的原因。
The drug Leqembi works by clearing away some amyloid in patients' brains.
治疗药物Leqembi通过清除患者大脑中的一些淀粉样蛋白发挥作用。
But Sperling said it is not clear if carriers of two APOE4 genes gain from taking the drug.
但斯珀林说，目前还不清楚两个APOE4基因的携带者是否会从服用该药物中获益。
That is because they have such a high risk of brain swelling and bleeding.
这是因为他们有很高的脑肿胀和出血风险。
One research question is whether patients with two APOE4 genes should start such drugs sooner than other people.
一个研究问题是，具有两个APOE4基因的患者是否应该比其他人更早开始服用这种药物。
Dr. Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging said other research aims to develop gene therapy or drugs that target APOE4.
国家老龄研究所的埃利泽·马斯利亚博士说，其他研究的目标是开发针对APOE4的基因疗法或药物。
He said it is important to understand APOE4's effects in different populations.
他说，了解载脂蛋白4的S效应在不同人群中是很重要的。
So far, studies related to APOE4 have mostly involved white people of European ancestry.
到目前为止，与APOE4相关的研究大多涉及欧洲血统的白人。
I'm Anna Matteo. And I'm Gregory Stachel.
我是安娜·马泰奥。我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。
