Dementia may not pose as terrible a threat to the world’s ageing population as many have assumed. Recent research suggests that the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other degenerative brain diseases as an individual grows old has decreased in recent decades. The latest evidence for declining age-specific incidence of dementia comes as the pharmaceutical industry celebrates the first demonstration of drugs to slow the progression of the disease. Biotech researchers are also making progress towards diagnostic tests to detect biological changes at a pre-symptomatic stage, when the onset of mental deterioration might be prevented.
痴呆症可能不会对日益老龄化的世界人口构成像许多人想象的那样可怕的威胁。最近的研究表明，近几十年来，一个人随着年龄增长患上阿尔茨海默氏症(Alzheimer)和其他退行性脑部疾病的风险有所下降。在关于痴呆症年龄特异性发病率下降的最新证据出炉之际，制药行业正在庆祝首次有证据证明，药物能够减缓这种疾病的发展。生物技术研究人员在诊断测试方面也取得了进展，这些测试可以在疾病出现症状前阶段检测到生物指标变化，从而也许可以防止大脑退化进程的开始。