The debilitating condition once derided as ‘yuppie flu’ is a genuine illness, researchers say.
雅皮士流感是一種能讓人慢慢衰竭的疾病，雖然曾經受到諸多嘲諷，但研究人員稱，這其實是一種真實存在的病。

Controversy has raged for nearly 30 years as to whether the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are real or all in the mind.
近30年來，關于慢性疲勞綜合征的癥狀是否存在，一直爭議不斷。

Now a study shows the condition, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, does trigger a distinctive immune response in the body.
如今，一份研究表明，這種病，也就是肌痛性腦脊髓炎（ME），的確能引發人體內的一種特殊的免疫反應。

The discovery paves the way for treatments that, given early enough, could prevent years of ill health.

這項發現為相關治療提供了依據。而只要盡早采取治療，就能預防常年的健康損害。

It should also help ease the stigma that has led to sufferers being dismissed as malingerers who imagine their symptoms.
同時，這項研究也能緩解患者因被懷疑裝病而遭解雇的屈辱感。

ME affects some 250,000 Britons and is more common in women than men. It was called ‘yuppie flu’ in the 1980s because sufferers tend to be aged between 20 and 40 and the illness was most frequently seen among professional people.
大約有兩百五十萬英國人患有此病，其中女性患病率更高。二十世紀八十年代，這種疾病被稱為“雅皮士流感”，因為大多數患者年齡介于20歲到40歲之間，且多為專業人士。

Symptoms include extreme physical and mental fatigue and painful limbs. The condition can also affect memory, concentration and digestion, with some sufferers left so weak that they lose their job or become bed or wheelchair-bound. But with the cause unclear, scepticism has remained as to whether it is a physical illness or merely psychological.
此病的癥狀包括身心極度疲憊，四肢疼痛。這種病也能對記憶力、注意力和消化功能造成損害，因此一些患者變得越來越虛弱，以至于失去工作或者癱瘓在床，或依賴輪椅行動。由于病因不明，人們懷疑這到底是生理疾病，又或僅僅是心理上的疾病。

The researchers, from Columbia University in New York, analysed hundreds of blood samples taken from ME patients and healthy people. The blood from those with ME showed a distinct ‘chemical signature’.
紐約哥倫比亞大學的研究者們對數百份分別取自肌痛性腦脊髓炎患者和健康人的血液樣本進行了分析，發現ME患者的血液顯示出了明顯的“化學特征”。

It had higher levels of various compounds released by the immune system to defend the body against infection. The link with an immune protein, interferon gamma, was particularly strong, the journal Science Advances reports.
據《科學前沿》報道，為了抵御感染，ME患者的免疫系統釋放了更高水平的化合物。其中，類似免疫蛋白、干擾素γ的化合物特別多。

Interferon gamma is blamed for the extreme tiredness that follows some viral infections and has also been linked to problems with memory.
極度的疲勞感就是干擾素γ導致的，該癥狀緊隨病毒性感染之后出現，同時與記憶損傷也有關聯。

The finding may help researchers develop the first diagnostic test for ME. It also raises hope of better treatments. Drugs that lower levels of some of the immune proteins already exist.
該發現也許可以幫助研究人員進行肌痛性腦脊髓炎的首次診斷測試，同時也增加了發現更好治療方式的希望。目前已經有一些降低免疫蛋白水平的藥物。

‘This study delivers what has eluded us for so long: unequivocal evidence of immunological dysfunction in ME and diagnostic biomarkers for disease,’ said researcher Dr Ian Lipkin.
“這項研究解開了我們多年來的困惑：提供了肌痛性腦脊髓炎導致免疫功能障礙以及該病癥的診斷性生物標識物的明確證據，”研究員伊恩·利普金博士說。

Lead author Dr Mady Hornig said: ‘We now have evidence confirming what millions with this disease already know, that ME isn’t psychological.’
該研究的主要作者馬迪·何寧博士說：“現在我們有證據向上百萬患者證明，肌痛性腦脊髓炎并不是心理疾病。”

However, the work is still preliminary and many questions remain to be answered, including why the chemical markers show up only in the blood of patients in the relatively early stages of ME.
但是，這項研究仍處于初步階段，仍有許多問題等待解決。比如，為何只能在早期患者的血液中發現化學標識物？

Dr Hornig’s team is now looking for signs of the infection that triggered the immune response. Scientists have long thought a virus is to blame but have failed to find the culprit.
何寧博士的研究隊伍正在尋找引發免疫反應的感染標志。科學家們一直認為病毒是罪魁禍首，但卻一直未能找到這種病毒。

Dr Neil Abbot, of ME Research UK said: ‘A biological signature or thumbprint for ME is the holy grail – it’s what we all want to see. If the immune changes reported in the study can help, it would be a great step forward.’
英國肌痛性腦脊髓炎研究所的尼爾·阿博特博士說：“肌痛性腦脊髓炎的生物標識物或者特征，就像是我們的圣杯——是我們一直想要看到的。如果這項研究發現的免疫變化能有幫助，那么這將是一次偉大的進步。”

The finding that the chemical signature is seen only in the first stages of ME shows the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, he added.
此項研究發現，僅在肌痛性腦脊髓炎早期階段才會出現化學標識物。這證明早期的診斷與治療非常重要，他補充道。

Sonya Chowdhury, of Action for ME, said the work ‘could have significant implications for quicker diagnosis and improved treatments’.
負責肌痛性腦脊髓炎患者行為研究的桑亞·喬杜里表示，這項研究“能夠極大提高診斷速度，完善治療措施。”

But some experts cautioned that the findings are preliminary and that ME research has been ‘bedevilled with false dawns’ for decades.
但也有一些專家警告，這項發現僅僅是初步階段的成果，而且肌痛性腦脊髓炎的研究者們已經被這種“虛幻的希望”迷惑多年。

Vocabulary

debilitating：使人衰弱的

malingerer：裝病者

elude：使迷惑

bedevilled：困擾，折磨

（翻譯：梁玉嫦SCNU 編輯：欽君）