這位女士能聞出帕金森症:科學家希望得到她的幫助
What if you could diagnose someone with a disease just by smelling it?
如果只通過嗅覺，你就能診斷出某人的疾病，那會怎麼樣呢？That's what 67-year-old Joy Milne claims she did when she smelled Parkinson's disease even before it was diagnosed in her husband, Les, reports the BBC. She "sensed a strange smell when he was around," but after they attended a Parkinson's support group in the U.K. Two years ago just before her husband died, it became clear she could smell the same scent on other people, too.
英國廣播公司（BBC）報道，67歲的喬伊·米爾恩如是聲稱：在丈夫萊斯被確診爲帕金森症之前，她就已經聞到過這一疾病了。"丈夫在身邊的時候，她聞到一股奇怪的味道，"但這是在他們參加英國帕金森症支持小組之後發生的事情了。2年前，丈夫臨死之際，她很清楚的聞到其他人身上也有相同的味道。Scientists were able to confirm her ability after she smelled the disease on six T-shirts belonging to Parkinson's patients - and one from the control group of six other T-shirts worn by people who did not have Parkinson's at the time, reports the BBC. But that one person was later diagnosed with Parkinson's several months later.
在她從6位帕金森病人的T恤上聞出這種疾病之後，科學家相信了她的能力--其中一件衣服是另一組對照試驗中的受試者的，對照實驗組T恤的六個主人當時還沒有患有帕金森症，BBC報道。但那個人卻在幾個月之後被診斷出帕金森症。
Milne - and her nose - are currently working with scientists as they try to come up with a diagnostic test for the illness, which is characterized by stiffness, trembling and affected balance, according to the National Institutes of Health. Scientists are trying to find the exact molecules that make up the odor Milne can smell, and so far, they've found 10 molecules specific to those with Parkinson's disease. There's no medical test for the condition, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes doctors usually diagnose the disease through neurological and physical evaluations.
目前，米爾恩和她的鼻子一起與科學家合作，試圖爲這一疾病（特徵爲身體僵硬、發顫和難以平衡）提出一種診斷測試，美國國立衛生研究院表示。科學家正試圖找出米爾恩能聞出來的確切分子，至今爲止，他們已找出10個與帕金森疾病相關的分子。目前沒有帕金森症醫療檢查，《亞特蘭大憲法報》指出：醫生通常通過神經和身體評估來診斷這一疾病。
What does Parkinson's smell like, exactly? "Thick, musk smell," Milne says. "Very different." She told the BBC she smelled it 10 to 12 years before her husband was diagnosed, and it worsened along with the disease. He lived with the disease for 20 years before he died in 2015.
帕金森究竟是什麼味道呢？"濃濃的麝香味，"米爾恩說道。"不一樣的味道。"她對BBC說道，她在丈夫被診斷出這一疾病的10至12年前就聞出來了，而且這一味道會隨着疾病的發展而變濃。萊斯於2015年去世，患病20年。"It's horrible watching your partner change like that," Milne continued. She is hopeful a test based on her ability to smell the disease might let doctors begin treatments early enough to limit the damage. "If we get the test right, then we'll never get to that stage because at that stage of diagnosis 60 to 70 percent of damage, neural damage, is already done."
"看到自己的老伴變成那個樣子真的很令人痛心，"米爾恩繼續道。她相信，基於她嗅覺能力的測試或能使醫生較早的開始對病人治療，從而降低傷害。"如果測試正確，那我們永遠都不用到達那一階段，因爲診斷出疾病的那一階段，60%至70%的傷害、神經傷害已經造成了。"
