本集內容

Hope for people with diabetes 新裝置給糖尿病患者帶來希望

學習要點

有關 “medical treatment（醫療）” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

What painful thing does little Charlotte not need to do any more?

文字稿

Six-year-old Charlotte from Lancashire is one of 400,000 people in the UK with type 1 diabetes.

六歲的夏洛特來自蘭開夏郡，她是英國40萬1型糖尿病患者其中的一個。

Her body can't make insulin, the hormone which regulates blood sugar levels.

她的身體不能產生胰島素，胰島素是一種調節血糖的激素。

As part of a trial, she has a sensor on her arm which continuously monitors her blood glucose, and sends readings to this pump, which automatically delivers the insulin she needs.

作為一次試驗的一部分，她手臂上裝有一臺傳感器，可持續監測她的血糖，并將讀數發給這個泵，泵會自動輸送她所需的胰島素。

Ange Abbott, Charlotte's mother
It's had such a massive impact. Prior to having the loop, everything was manual. We had to … We'd be up all night, and some nights, you know, every hour, every two hours to do finger pricks. Whereas now she can be the social child she was before and that's... that just makes me so happy.

安吉·阿伯特       夏洛特的母親
“影響太大了。在用閉環系統之前，一切都是手動的。我們整晚都不能睡，有些晚上，每一兩個小時就要給孩子扎手指測血糖。而現在，她得以變回了以前那個善于交際的孩子，我開心壞了。”

It's known as a hybrid closed-loop system --– a sort of artificial pancreas.

該裝置被稱為 “混合閉環系統”，就像是人工的胰腺。

Charlotte, diabetes patient
I don't have to do finger pricks or needles any more.

夏洛特       糖尿病患者
“我不用再扎手指驗血或者打針了。”

And it keeps her blood sugar from going too high or too low.

這樣做還可以防止她的血糖過高或過低。

Dr May Ng, Paediatric Endocrinologist
I think it's absolutely fantastic. I've been practising for 25 years in children's diabetes, and it's a game changer. To be able to improve the quality of life, to be able to see that most of the blood glucose readings are within the target range --–  it's very exciting.

吳詩梅醫生       兒科內分泌學家
“我覺得這太棒了。我已經在兒童糖尿病領域從醫25年，而這個裝置會帶來巨大的改變。能夠提高人們的生活質量，并看到大部分的血糖讀數都在正常范圍內，太讓人激動了。”

Yasmin Hopkins, diabetes patient
The sensors are on my arm, and they loop back through each other…

雅絲敏·霍普金斯       糖尿病患者
“傳感器貼在我胳膊上，這些部件之間會協同工作。”

Yasmin, from South London, is astounded how much her blood sugar levels have stabilised using the new technology.

雅絲敏來自倫敦南部，使用這款新科技產品后，她的血糖水平穩定了下來，她對此感到非常驚訝。

Fergus Walsh, BBC correspondent
So, it's liberating?

弗格斯·沃什       BBC通訊員
“是不是讓你有種解脫感？”

Yasmin Hopkins, diabetes sufferer
Yeah, definitely, there's nothing I can't do. There's no situation now that makes me anxious or scared. I really feel like, before, I really could have been at risk of some of those long-term [issues], especially the kind of heart [heart-related] stuff and things like that. Whereas now I don't really see that happening.

雅絲敏·霍普金斯       糖尿病患者
“那肯定的，沒有什么我做不了的。現在，沒有任何情況會讓我焦慮或害怕。我以前真的以為自己會面臨一些長期的健康隱患，尤其是跟心臟有關的問題。而現在我覺得不會了。”

If blood sugar levels are not kept under control, diabetes patients risk long-term damage to their heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves.

如果血糖水平得不到控制，那么糖尿病患者就有心臟、腎臟、眼睛和神經長期受損的風險。

That's why this trial matters. If successful, it could mean patients like Yasmin have longer and healthier lives.

這就是為什么這次試驗很重要。如果成功，就可能意味著像雅絲敏這樣的患者會更長壽、更健康。

詞匯

trial 試驗

monitors 監測

game changer 徹底改變某領域的事物

quality of life 生活質量

stabilised 穩定下來

問題答案

She doesn't need to wake up several times a night to have her finger pricked.