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It is becoming easier, cheaper and quicker to diagnose dementia
现在诊断痴呆症变得更容易、更便宜、更快捷
Of the estimated 55m people living with dementia around the world, only one-quarter have been formally diagnosed with the condition. There are many reasons for this. Two are enduring: many patients and clinicians alike wrongly believe that dementia is an inevitable part of the ageing-human condition and, being incurable, is hardly worth diagnosing; and some people experiencing cognitive impairment fear hearing what sounds like a sentence of brain-death, and so do not seek help.
在全球约5500万痴呆症患者中，只有四分之一的患者被正式诊断为痴呆症。造成这种情况的原因有很多。有两种观点持续到现在：许多患者和临床医生都错误地认为，痴呆症是人类衰老过程中不可避免的一部分，而且无法治愈，几乎不值得诊断；一些有认知障碍的人害怕听起来像是脑死亡的判决，所以不寻求帮助。
Some of the reasons for non-diagnosis, however, may be about to change. During the covid-19 pandemic many people have delayed consulting their doctors about non-urgent conditions, and as lockdowns ease, they may begin to ask for professional guidance (moreover, evidence suggests that covid itself heightens the risk of dementia). In addition, diagnostic techniques, hitherto unreliable, time-consuming and costly, are becoming available, and for some forms of dementia hopes are emerging of more effective treatments.
然而，一些不被诊断的原因可能即将改变。在新冠肺炎大流行期间，许多人推迟了就非紧急情况向医生咨询的时间，随着封锁的缓解，他们可能会开始寻求专业指导（此外，有证据表明，covid-19本身就会增加痴呆的风险）。此外，迄今为止不可靠、耗时和昂贵的诊断技术正在变得可行，对某些形式的痴呆症来说，更有效的治疗有望出现。
Dementia is normally diagnosed by testing cognitive functions such as memory. If mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often a precursor to dementia, is detected, a patient may then be referred for tests to identify which of the dozens of causes of dementia are to blame. By far the most common is Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 60-80% of cases.
痴呆症通常是通过测试认知功能（如记忆）来诊断的。如果检测到轻度认知障碍（MCI），通常是痴呆症的前兆，那么患者可能会被转介进行测试，以确定在导致痴呆症的几十个原因中，哪些才是罪魁祸首。到目前为止，最常见的是阿尔茨海默症，占总体病例的60%-80%。
