Twice as many cases of early dementia than was thought
（若年性認知症が想定の2倍）
By Laura Donnelly, Health Editor
Telegraph: 9:00PM BST 06 Sep 2014
（若年性認知症が想定の2倍）
By Laura Donnelly, Health Editor
Telegraph: 9:00PM BST 06 Sep 2014
Charity calls for more help for younger people with dementia as new figures disclose twice as many cases as was thought among those aged between 30 and 65
新データによって30-65歳の認知症の症例が想定の2倍に上っていることが明らかになる中、慈善団体が認知症を患う若年層への支援強化を呼びかけました。
More than twice as many people in the UK have dementia before the age of 65 than was previously thought, new figures show.
新データによって、英国内の65歳以下の認知症の症例が想定の2倍以上に上ることがわかりました。
A report due to be published this week says that 42,000 people are now estimated to be suffering early onset dementia, including thousands of cases among those in their 40s, and more than 700 cases among those in their 30s.
今週公表予定のレポートは、40代数千例と30代700例超を含む42,000例が現在初期の認知症と思われるとしています。
The new statistics also show the condition is slightly more common among men than women.
また女性よりも男性の方が若干多いことも示しています。
Experts said doctors too often missed symptoms of dementia in younger people, assuming they were too young to be suffering from the condition. They said services and society needed to do more to help those coming to terms with a diagnosis of dementia.
専門家は、医師は認知症にかかるには若過ぎると考えて若年層の症状を余りにも頻繁に見落としていると述べています。
医療機関と社会は、これらの患者が認知症の診断を受け容れるのを支援するためにもっと努力する必要があるとしました。
The figures, due to be published tomorrow, come from a state of the nation report by the Alzheimer's Society, the London School of Economics and the Institute of Psychiatry, which will show the cost of dementia to the NHS and social services.
明日公表予定の上記のデータはアルツハイマー協会、ロンドン・スクール・オブ・エコノミクス、英心理学研究所がまとめた年次報告書からのものであり、同報告書は国民保健サービスと社会福祉に対する認知症のコストも示していると思われます。
Previous estimates had suggested that just 17,000 cases of dementia involve younger people. But the new figures suggest 42,325 people below the age of 65 are currently suffering from such conditions – representing roughly five per cent of all cases of dementia. Three quarters of cases are among those aged between 60 and 65, but cases can occur among those in their 50s, 40s and even in their 30s.
過去の試算では、若年層の認知症は僅か17,000例だとされていました。
Jeremy Hughes, chief executive at Alzheimer's Society said: "For too long dementia has been perceived as a natural part of ageing which only affects the oldest of the old in our society.
アルツハイマー協会のジェレミー・ヒューズ代表は次のように述べました。
「余りにも長い間、認知症は社会の極めて高齢層にしか影響しない老化の自然な一部だと考えられてきました」
"Say the word Alzheimer's and many people picture a frail, elderly person in a care home. The risk of developing dementia does increase with age, but the reality is that dementia is caused by diseases of the brain that don't discriminate. "
「アルツハイマーと言えば、多くの人は老人ホームにいる衰えた高齢者を思い浮かべます。認知症の発症リスクは年齢と共に増大しますが、認知症は年齢を問わない脳疾患によって起こるというのが現実です」
Surveys have found that dementia is the most feared condition among those aged 55 and over.
調査によって、認知症は55歳以上が最も恐れる病気であることがわかっています。
Mr Hughes said: "Many people will be coming to terms with the symptoms while still in work, perhaps looking after children and paying a mortgage. Too often we hear of people reporting memory loss to their doctor in mid-life, but being misdiagnosed because they are considered too young to have dementia. "
ヒューズ代表は「多くの人は、まだ働いている間に、多分子育てをしたり住宅ローンを返済している最中に、認知症の症状を受け容れることになります。中年期に、医師に記憶喪失を報告しながら、認知症にかかるには若過ぎると考えられて誤診されるケースを非常に多く耳にします」と言いました。
He said services need to ensure that younger adults were able to access specialist treatment and support.
また、医療サービスは、若い成人が専門医による治療や支援を受けられるようにする必要があるとしました。
The new estimates suggest that of the 42,325 cases of early-onset dementia in the UK, 21,519 cases are in men while 20,806 are in women. Around 32,000 of the cases involve those aged 60 to 65, with 7,700 cases among those in their 50s, 2,010 cases among those in their 40s, and 707 cases among those in their 30s, the figures show.
新たな試算では、英国内では初期の認知症が42,325例あり、その内の21,519例が男性、20,806例が女性であるとされています。
およそ32,000例が60-65歳、7,700例が50代、2,010例が40代、707例が30代です。
While Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia among the elderly, in those under the age of 65, it represents just one in three cases. In some cases, there is a family history of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
アルツハイマー病は高齢者の認知症で最も一般的ですが、65歳以下の場合は僅か3例に1例を占めるに過ぎません。
中には、早くからアルツハイマー病にかかる家系もあります。
Among younger people, the second most common cause is vascular dementia, which occurs when there are problems in the blood supply to the brain. One in five cases of dementia in the under 65s are caused by this.
若年層の間で2つ目に一般的な原因は血管性認知症で、これは脳への血液の供給に支障がある場合に発生します。
65歳以下の認知症の5例に1例はこれが原因です。
Around one in ten cases of dementia in younger people are alcohol-related, and 10 per cent are caused by dementia with Lewy bodies, a build up of tiny protein deposits in the brain .
若年認知症の10例に約1例はアルコールに関連するものであり、10%は脳内に微小なタンパク質が蓄積されることによって発症するレビー小体認知症です。
A further 12 per cent are caused by front-temporal dementia, which is a more common cause of dementia among those aged between 45 and 65 than among dementias in older people, and often relates to a family history of the disease. Rarer forms of dementia – linked to conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - also explain a higher proportion of dementias in younger people than they do in the elderly.
更に12%は前頭側頭型認知症で、これは高齢者よりも45-65歳の間で一般的で、家族性の場合も多くなっています。
パーキンソン病、ハンチントン病、クロイツフェルトヤコブ病などに関連するより珍しい型の認知症も、高齢者よりも若年層の認知症においてより高い割合を占めています。
The report also forecasts that the number of people with early-onset dementia is set to rise by 20 per cent over the next four decades, with more than 50,000 cases expected by 2051.
同報告書の予測によれば、若年認知症の症例は今後40年間で20%増加し、2051年までに50,000例を超えるだろうとのことです。
Susan Hulme, from Camarthenshire, South Wales, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease last year, at the age of 59. She said she had been struggling with memory problems for three years, which had been attributed to stress, or sinus problems.
サウス・ウェールズ、カーマーゼンシャーのスーザン・フルムさんは去年アルツハイマー病の診断を受けました。
59歳でした。
彼女によれば、3年前から記憶に問題があったが、ストレスや副鼻腔疾患のせいにされていたそうです。
When she visited her GP last year, and found herself unable to recall the reason for her visit, she was referred to a memory clinic, who made the diagnosis, and prescribed medication which can slow its impact.
昨年、かかりつけ医を訪れた際、医院を訪れた理由を思い出すことが出来ず、記憶クリニックに紹介されました。
そこで診断が下され、影響を遅らせる薬を処方されました。
Ms Hulme, a former civil servant, said: "In a way it felt like a relief to get the diagnosis, because I knew something was wrong for several years, I had been really struggling with my memory, and with a kind of fuzzy feeling that was worst in the mornings – but it was a real shock that it was Alzheimer's disease, I thought that was something that only came with old age."
元公務員のフルムさんはこう語りました。
「或る意味、診断を受けてほっとしました。もう何年も何かがおかしいとわかっていたからです。記憶では本当に苦しみましたし、朝が一番辛い落ち着かない感じにも苦しみましたが、アルツハイマー病だと知った時は本当にショックでした。老人になるまでかからないものだと思っていましたから」
She had already taken voluntary redundancy, after suffering what she had thought was stress.
原因をストレスだと思っていたので、診断当時は既に仕事を辞めていました。
Telling people about her diagnosis was one of the most difficult parts of coming to terms with the condition, she said, calling for more funding of services for younger people, to provide support.
彼女は、この病気を受け入れるに当たって非常に難しいことの一つは、自分の診断結果を人々に伝えることだとして、支援のために若年層のための医療サービス財源を増やすよう求めました。
"I don't think most people realise this is something that could happen at this age. Telling my partner and my children was one of the most difficult things to do," she said.
「これはいくつであっても起こり得ることだと、殆どの人はわかっていないでしょう。私のパートナーや子供達に伝えることは、最も難しいことの一つでした」
