【标题】Alzheimer's disease: Fabulous or futile? | 阿尔茨海默病: 是绝妙至极还是徒劳无功？
主题：治疗阿尔茨海默病的药物
观点：效果未知，要以成败论英雄
【摘要】Claims of treatment for Alzheimer’s should be met with caution
第一段：一款据说能对抗阿尔茨海默病的药——Aducanumab即将面市
延缓阿尔茨海默病的药物既是对人类的恩赐，也是研发公司的摇钱树
A drug that slowed the progress of Alzheimer’s disease would be both a boon to humanity and a cash cow for the firm that developed it.
因此，该研发公司的股价就像过山车
Hence the rollercoaster ride enjoyed by the shares of Biogen, a biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which hopes to be the firm in question. The recent surge in its share price (see chart) followed its announcement, on October 22nd, that it would soon seek approval in America for aducanumab, a molecule it believes will fit the bill.
【boon】[bun]something that is very helpful and makes life easier for you. 恩赐
This battery booster is a boon for photographers.
这种电池充电器是摄影工作者的好帮手。
【cash cow】a product or business that earns a lot of money, especially when this money is used to pay for something else. 摇钱树
This product has always been a cash cow for our company.
这种产品一直是我们公司的摇钱树.
【fit the bill】to have the qualities that someone needs or has asked for 满足要求
If you fit the bill, send a CV to me.
如果你符合要求，就寄一份简历给我。
第二段：介绍Aducanumab的本质——抗体
Aducanumab is a type of drug known as a monoclonal antibody.
抗体是什么
Antibodies are specialised protein molecules that form part of the immune system. They include so-called hypervariable regions, the exact chemistry of which differs from one type of antibody to another.
抗体的工作原理
The specifics of the hypervariable region cause it to bind with great fidelity to some other molecule, usually part of a pathogen, stopping that molecule working and marking it for destruction by other parts of the immune system.
【fidelity】[fɪ'deləti] the quality of being loyal to sb/sth. 忠诚
He believed in marital fidelity.
他认为婚内应该忠诚。
【pathogen】[ˈpæθədʒən]a thing that causes disease 病原体
The pathogen was almost instantly detected by automated systems.
病原体几乎立刻就被自动系统检测到了。
第三段：介绍Aducanumab的工作原理
Aducanumab is tailored to bind to a protein called beta-amyloid, which forms plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
而斑块至少是阿尔茨海默病的形成原因之一
Most researchers agree that these plaques are at least part of the cause of Alzheimer’s symptoms, rather than being a benign consequence of other, harmful processes.
理论上确实是能有效延缓症状
And aducanumab does, indeed, seem to reduce the amount of beta-amyloid around. The theory is that this should, in turn, slow progress of the illness’s symptoms. And that is where things get complicated.
【plaque】[plæk]a small flattened patch or deposit 斑块
It was quite clear that the more plaque you had, the more likely it was that you would have an event.
斑块越多，发生事件的可能性越高，这是非常明确的。
第四段：公司对Aducanumab进行两次试验，检测其安全性和有效性
Having established aducanumab’s safety in preliminary trials, Biogen organised a pair of larger trials to test its efficacy in slowing down the development of symptoms.
三月，公司宣布其在效用测试中失败
Such trials are monitored as they go along, in order to check that a drug under test still looks safe, and also for futility—in other words, whether there is any sign that the substance is having the desired effect. In March, the firm announced that aducanumab had failed the futility test and both trials would therefore end.
第五段：但根据实验中提炼的数据来看，药还是有一点效果的
That seemed to be that. But the latest announcement, based on extra data squeezed out of one of the trials, says there is an effect after all. And, according to statistical convention, there is. Just.
第六段：从数据看Aducanumab的可行性
Statistically, there is little doubt that aducanumab was clearing beta-amyloid.
统计学的经验法则
A rule of thumb in statistics is that if the likelihood of an apparently significant result having actually been accidental is less than five in 100, then it can provisionally be accepted as real.
但这一重新诠释只采用了其中一次实验的数据
Calculation suggests the plaque-clearing effect found would happen by chance only one time in 1,000. That, though, is merely to confirm what was already known about aducanumab’s powers. Of the four results cited for various cognitive effects, only one is this good. Two others have “happened-by-chance” values of one in 100—which counts, but would benefit from confirmation. The fourth has a value of six in 100. Nor is Biogen’s case assisted by the fact that only one of the two trials is being cited in this reinterpretation.
【rule of thumb】a method of procedure based on experience and common sense.单凭经验而来的法则
He often works by rule of thumb.
他通常凭经验办事。
【by chance】unexpectedly or without plan 偶然
Life gets better not by chance, but by change.
生活变得美好，不是偶然，而是我们努力改变的结果。
第七段：美国食药监察局将采取的行动
美国食药监察局必须在药物问题上谨慎处理
America’s Food and Drug Administration, which will decide whether to give aducanumab the go-ahead, will of course be aware of the conventions concerning statistical power, and will make its decision in light of that awareness.
但考虑到阿尔茨海默病的严重性和替代治疗方案的缺失，给可能奏效的方案开绿灯也不是不可能的事
There must, though, be a temptation, given the magnitude of the problem of Alzheimer’s (in America alone there are almost 6m cases), and the absence of alternative treatments, to give a green light to something that might work, in the hope that it does work.
成败论英雄
Which will make heroes out of everyone involved if it turns out to be correct—and villains if it does not.
【in light of】Considering (something); given (something). 把…列入考虑
We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.
我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。
【to give a green light to sth】to give permission for someone to do something or for something to happen. 开绿灯
The council has given the green light to the new shopping centre.
市政会已经给新购物中心开了绿灯。
拓展材料：
1、阿尔茨海默病是什么？
https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers
2、医疗无效：法律与道德分析
https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/medical-futility-legal-and-ethical-analysis/2007-05
3、美国食品药物监察局（FDA）官网
https://www.fda.gov/
下次见~
