Nearly one in 10 Hong Kong residents aged 70 and above suffer from dementia - affecting memory, thinking, language and judgment - a study has revealed (透露) for the first time.
The study, in which 6,100 seniors were randomly selected (note 1) to participate in the thematic (主題) household survey, was conducted by the Department of Health and the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2008.
A total of 2,073 elderly were found to be "positive for questionable or diagnosable dementia. (note 2) "
The results, announced yesterday, showed a 7.2 percent prevalence (流行) of dementia among those who are 60 years old and above and 9.3 percent among those 70 and above. "By projection, over 70,000 elders suffer from (note 3) dementia in the community," the study noted.
Of these, about 63 percent suffer from Alzheimer's disease (老年痴呆症).
"Ninety percent of these patients have no insight into (note 4) their problems and do not seek medical help until [the disease reaches an] advanced stage," said Vincent Mok Chung-tong, a neurologist (神經病專科醫生) and convener of Cognitive Disorders Concern Alliance.
Family members play a key role (note 5) in the early diagnosis of dementia before symptoms significantly disrupt (打斷) the patient's daily life, he said.
A Mr Ng, 56, wept as he talked about the frustrations (挫折) of taking care of his sick 80-year-old mother for 10 years.
Ng said it has been difficult coping with (note 6) her aggressive behavior, mood swings, delusions (妄想) and unfair accusations.
Ng's sister even moved back to Hong Kong from New Zealand eight years ago to help him look after their mother.
Mok said that although the disease is incurable (不治之症), medications can delay its progress and ease the burden of caregivers.
From good to better English:
(note 1) randomly selected=隨機抽樣。Randomly=隨機的, 任意的，胡亂的，隨便的。a random guess=瞎猜。 a random shot=亂射的子彈；流彈。 at random=碰運氣地；無目標地，漫無目的地。
(note 2) questionable or diagnosable dementia.= 可疑的或可診斷的癡呆症。
(note 3) suffer from=遭受, 受苦。suffer a loss=遭受損失。Jo Jo could not suffer criticism=Jo Jo受不了批評。The child suffers from measles=小孩得了麻疹。suffer 的同義詞有To put up with: abide, accept, bear, endure, go,, sustain, swallow, take, tolerate, withstand等。not suffer fools gladly=對蠢人沒有耐心。
(note 4) have no insight into=缺乏洞察力；直覺，悟力；眼光；見識。Ah Lung is a man of deep insight= Ah Lung是個有深遠見識的人。Victor gains an insight into Julian’s mind= Victor看透Julian的心思。
(note 5) play a key= 角色。the leading role 主角。 fill the role of=擔負某人的任務。 play an important role in=在某事情中起重要作用。
(note 6) coping with=抗衡，對抗。Victor was scarcely able to cope with the situation=Victor幾乎不知道如何去應付這個局面。under the cope of heaven=普天之下。
Victor’s View: It is sad to see that about 10% of the aged in Hong Kong suffer from dementia. I hope Hong Kong people, once they turn 50, will pay close attention to early symptoms of the disease and seek medical help.
(Victor Fung Keung, director of HK Baptist University’s M.A. in international journalism program, has published 4 books on English-enhancement [the latest, titled <<學會演說、改變你的人生>>, was published on July 18] and plans to write 6 more by the end of 2012. Write to him: deanfungenglish@gmail.com)
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