ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elliot Krane - Pediatric anesthesiologist
At the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Elliot Krane works on the problem of treating pain in children.

Why you should listen

It's an awful problem to contemplate: How do you help a young child in pain? As director of Pain Management Services at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Elliot Krane works on solving this problem, studying and treating kids who are undergoing surgeries, suffering from complications of diabetes -- and kids suffering "neuropathic pain" resulting from injury to the nervous system itself.

More profile about the speaker
Elliot Krane | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Elliot Krane: The mystery of chronic pain

Elliot Krane:解碼慢性疼痛

Filmed:
2,012,954 views

大家都認為疼痛是一種症狀,但有些情況下神經系統自己發展成為一個一個的反饋迴路引起疼痛,所以這疼痛本身就成為一種可怕的疾病.由一個女孩扭傷手腕變成了一場噩夢的故事作開場白.Elliot Krane 揭開複雜的慢性疼痛之謎.並坦承評估對於剛被瞭解的慢性疼痛,現在所能應用的護理和控制方法.
- Pediatric anesthesiologist
At the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Elliot Krane works on the problem of treating pain in children. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
I'm a pediatrician兒科醫師 and an anesthesiologist麻醉師,
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我是一名小兒麻醉科醫生,
00:17
so I put children孩子 to sleep睡覺 for a living活的.
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所以我靠把孩子們弄睡來賺錢生活。
00:19
(Laughter笑聲)
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(眾笑)
00:21
And I'm an academic學術的, so I put audiences觀眾 to sleep睡覺 for free自由.
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也是個專業學者,所以會免費催眠聽眾睡覺。
00:24
(Laughter笑聲)
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(眾笑)
00:28
But what I actually其實 mostly大多 do
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但實際上我大部份的時間是在
00:30
is I manage管理 the pain疼痛 management管理 service服務
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帕羅奧多市史丹佛大學附屬兒童醫院( Packard Children's Hospital )
00:32
at the Packard惠普 Children's兒童 Hospital醫院 up at Stanford斯坦福 in Palo帕洛阿爾托 Alto奧拓.
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裡幫助病童控制護理他們的疼痛。
00:35
And it's from the experience經驗
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我已經擁有
00:37
from about 20 or 25 years年份 of doing that
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大約20年或25年的經驗,
00:39
that I want to bring帶來 to you the message信息 this morning早上,
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所以今天上午我想給你們傳遞一個消息:
00:41
that pain疼痛 is a disease疾病.
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疼痛是一種疾病。
00:43
Now most of the time,
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大多數的時候,
00:45
you think of pain疼痛 as a symptom症狀 of a disease疾病,
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我們都覺得疼痛是疾病所引起的一種症狀。
00:47
and that's true真正 most of the time.
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通常這是對的。
00:49
It's the symptom症狀 of a tumor or an infection感染
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的確疼痛是腫瘤,感染,
00:52
or an inflammation or an operation手術.
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發炎或手術後的症狀。
00:54
But about 10 percent百分 of the time,
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但是,大約有百分之十的機會,
00:57
after the patient患者 has recovered恢復 from one of those events事件,
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當病人已經完成痊癒後,
01:00
pain疼痛 persists仍然存在.
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疼痛仍然存在。
01:02
It persists仍然存在 for months個月
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有時持續幾個月,
01:04
and oftentimes通常情況下 for years年份,
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甚至於常常疼痛多年。
01:06
and when that happens發生,
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當發生這種情況時,
01:08
it is its own擁有 disease疾病.
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疼痛本身就是一種疾病。
01:10
And before I tell you about how it is that we think that happens發生
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在我還沒告訴你們,我們對慢性疼痛為何發生的推理,
01:13
and what we can do about it,
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及我們可能治療它的方法之前,
01:15
I want to show顯示 you how it feels感覺 for my patients耐心.
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我想讓你們瞭解我的病人疼痛的感覺。
01:18
So imagine想像, if you will,
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如果你願意,想像一下,
01:20
that I'm stroking行程 your arm with this feather羽毛,
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我正用這個羽毛輕撫你的手臂,
01:22
as I'm stroking行程 my arm right now.
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就像我現在輕撫自己手臂一樣
01:25
Now, I want you to imagine想像
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現在,我要您們想像,
01:27
that I'm stroking行程 it with this.
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我是用噴火槍的火焰來"撫摸"你的手臂。
01:29
Please keep your seat座位.
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請大家坐好,不要跑掉.
01:31
(Laughter笑聲)
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(眾笑)
01:33
A very different不同 feeling感覺.
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一個非常不同的感覺吧。
01:35
Now what does it have to do with chronic慢性 pain疼痛?
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咦,這跟慢性疼痛有什麼關係啊?
01:37
Imagine想像, if you will, these two ideas思路 together一起.
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如果你願意再想像一下,把這兩個例子擺在一起。
01:40
Imagine想像 what your life would be like
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想像一下你的生活會是什麼行情?
01:42
if I were to stroke行程 it with this feather羽毛,
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如果我是用羽毛碰觸你,
01:45
but your brain was telling告訴 you
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但你的大腦卻一再告訴你-
01:47
that this is what you are feeling感覺 --
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你正在被火紋身-(這就是你的感覺)
01:49
and that is the experience經驗 of my patients耐心 with chronic慢性 pain疼痛.
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這就是我的病人對慢性疼痛的經驗。
01:52
In fact事實, imagine想像 something even worse更差.
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事實上,更可怕的是,
01:54
Imagine想像 I were to stroke行程 your child's孩子的 arm with this feather羽毛,
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如果我是用羽毛碰觸你的孩子的手臂,
01:57
and their brain [was] telling告訴 them
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他們的大腦卻告訴自己。
01:59
that they were feeling感覺 this hot torch火炬.
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他們正被非常炙熱的火炬煎烤著.
02:02
That was the experience經驗 of my patient患者, Chandler錢德勒,
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這就是我的病人,璇得拉,的經驗。
02:04
whom you see in the photograph照片.
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這是她的照片。
02:06
As you can see, she's a beautiful美麗, young年輕 woman女人.
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正如你所看到的,她是一個美麗年輕的女孩。
02:08
She was 16 years年份 old last year when I met會見 her,
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去年我見到她時她16歲,
02:10
and she aspired渴望 to be a professional專業的 dancer舞蹈家.
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她渴望成為一名專業舞蹈演員。
02:13
And during the course課程 of one of her dance舞蹈 rehearsals排練,
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然而有一次舞蹈排練過程中,
02:15
she fell下跌 on her outstretched伸開 arm and sprained扭傷 her wrist.
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她跌落壓在在她自己伸展的一隻手臂上,並扭傷手腕。
02:18
Now you would probably大概 imagine想像, as she did,
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你可能會以為,在一個人的日常生活中,
02:20
that a wrist sprain扭傷 is a trivial不重要的 event事件
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手腕扭傷是一個
02:22
in a person's人的 life.
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很小的事件。
02:24
Wrap it in an ACE高手 bandage繃帶,
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只要用一個ACE繃帶纏繞手腕,
02:26
take some ibuprofen布洛芬 for a week or two,
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再吃一至兩個星期的布洛芬止痛劑,
02:28
and that's the end結束 of the story故事.
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就可以了。
02:30
But in Chandler's錢德勒的 case案件, that was the beginning開始 of the story故事.
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但是對璇得拉而言,她的血淚史才剛開始.
02:34
This is what her arm looked看著 like
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這是她來到我的診所時手臂的樣子,
02:36
when she came來了 to my clinic診所 about three months個月 after her sprain扭傷.
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大概是發生意外扭傷三個月後,
02:39
You can see that the arm is discolored脫色的,
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你可以看到那手臂已變色,
02:41
purplish紫色 in color顏色.
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帶點紫色。
02:43
It was cadavericallycadaverically cold to the touch觸摸.
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摸起來有屍體一樣的冰冷感覺。
02:45
The muscles肌肉 were frozen凍結的, paralyzed --
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肌肉已經凍結癱瘓--
02:47
dystonic肌張力障礙 is how we refer參考 to that.
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所謂肌肉張力不足異常.
02:50
The pain疼痛 had spread傳播 from her wrist to her hands,
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疼痛已經從她的手腕擴散到她的手掌,
02:53
to her fingertips指尖, from her wrist up to her elbow彎頭,
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到她的指尖,疼痛也從手腕漫延到胳膊肘,
02:56
almost幾乎 all the way to her shoulder.
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幾乎到達她的肩膀。
02:58
But the worst最差 part部分 was,
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但是,最糟糕的是,
03:00
not the spontaneous自發 pain疼痛 that was there 24 hours小時 a day.
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並非那持續每一天24小時自發性的疼痛,
03:03
The worst最差 part部分 was that she had allodynia異常性疼痛,
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最糟糕的是她有痛覺過敏症,
03:06
the medical term術語 for the phenomenon現象 that I just illustrated插圖
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觸感痛是醫學上的術語。所產生的症狀
03:09
with the feather羽毛 and with the torch火炬.
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是跟羽毛與火炬的故事一樣。
03:11
The lightest最輕 touch觸摸 of her arm --
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最輕微的觸摸她的手臂-
03:13
the touch觸摸 of a hand,
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觸摸她的手,
03:15
the touch觸摸 even of a sleeve, of a garment服裝, as she put it on --
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甚至於當她穿衣時被衣袖觸到,被衣服磨到--
03:18
caused造成 excruciating痛苦, burning燃燒 pain疼痛.
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都會造成難以忍受的燒灼痛。
03:22
How can the nervous緊張 system系統 get this so wrong錯誤?
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神經系統為什麼會錯得那麼離譜?
03:25
How can the nervous緊張 system系統
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為什麼神經系統
03:27
misinterpret曲解 an innocent無辜 sensation感覺
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會曲解一個無害的感覺,
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like the touch觸摸 of a hand
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比如被手摸到,
03:31
and turn it into the malevolent壞心腸的 sensation感覺
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轉達成被火焰灼傷
03:34
of the touch觸摸 of the flame火焰?
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的惡意感覺?
03:36
Well you probably大概 imagine想像 that the nervous緊張 system系統 in the body身體
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你可能會想像人身體內的神經系統
03:39
is hardwired硬線 like your house.
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就像我們房子內的電線系統.
03:41
In your house, wires電線 run in the wall,
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房子裡,電線有系統的被嵌在牆壁裡,
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from the light switch開關 to a junction連接點 box in the ceiling天花板
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從電燈開關到天花板的轉接箱,
03:46
and from the junction連接點 box to the light bulb燈泡.
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在從轉接箱到燈泡。
03:49
And when you turn the switch開關 on, the light goes on.
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當你打開開關,燈會亮起。
03:51
And when you turn the switch開關 off, the light goes off.
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而當你關閉開關,燈就熄滅。
03:54
So people imagine想像 the nervous緊張 system系統 is just like that.
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因此,大家想神經系統就是像這樣子。
03:58
If you hit擊中 your thumb拇指 with a hammer錘子,
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如果你的拇指被錘子打著,
04:00
these wires電線 in your arm -- that, of course課程, we call nerves神經 --
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你的手臂內的電線--當然,我們稱之為神經
04:03
transmit發送 the information信息 into the junction連接點 box in the spinal cord
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-發送信息去脊髓的轉接箱,
04:06
where new wires電線, new nerves神經,
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在那兒新線,新神經
04:08
take the information信息 up to the brain
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傳遞信息到大腦,
04:10
where you become成為 consciously自覺 aware知道的 that your thumb拇指 is now hurt傷害.
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然後你會意識到你的拇指受傷了。
04:14
But the situation情況, of course課程, in the human人的 body身體
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當然,在人體內的
04:16
is far more complicated複雜 than that.
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情況更為複雜得多。
04:19
Instead代替 of it being存在 the case案件
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並不是單純的
04:21
that that junction連接點 box in the spinal cord
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像是在脊髓內的轉接箱,
04:23
is just simple簡單 where one nerve神經 connects所連接 with the next下一個 nerve神經
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在那裡一個神經結連絡另一個神經結
04:26
by releasing釋放 these little brown棕色 packets
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通過釋放包含化學信息的小棕色包
04:28
of chemical化學 information信息 called neurotransmitters神經遞質
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就是神經傳導素來
04:31
in a linear線性 one-on-one一對一 fashion時尚,
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線性一對一傳導訊息。
04:34
in fact事實, what happens發生
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事實上,
04:36
is the neurotransmitters神經遞質 spill out in three dimensions尺寸 --
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神經傳導素的釋放是三方向的--
04:38
laterally橫向, vertically垂直, up and down in the spinal cord --
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在脊髓中:橫向,縱向,上下-
04:41
and they start開始 interacting互動
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然後他們開始
04:43
with other adjacent cells細胞.
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與其他相鄰的細胞相互影響.
04:46
These cells細胞, called glial神經膠質 cells細胞,
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這些細胞被稱為神經膠質細胞,
04:48
were once一旦 thought to be
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以前被認為是
04:50
unimportant不重要 structural結構 elements分子 of the spinal cord
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不重要的脊髓結構元素,
04:52
that did nothing more than hold保持 all the important重要 things together一起,
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除了幫助所有重要的物質(像神經細胞)
04:54
like the nerves神經.
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聚集一起外,一無用處。
04:56
But it turns out
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但事實證明,
04:58
the glial神經膠質 cells細胞 have a vital重要 role角色
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膠質細胞,扮演至關重要的角色
05:00
in the modulation調製, amplification放大
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不僅調配,放大,
05:02
and, in the case案件 of pain疼痛, the distortion失真
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對疼痛的感覺,在扭曲的
05:05
of sensory感覺的 experiences經驗.
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感官經驗中
05:08
These glial神經膠質 cells細胞 become成為 activated活性.
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這些膠質細胞就活化起來。
05:10
Their DNA脫氧核糖核酸 starts啟動 to synthesize合成 new proteins蛋白質,
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他們的DNA開始合成新的蛋白質,
05:12
which哪一個 spill out
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然後釋放出來
05:14
and interact相互作用 with adjacent nerves神經,
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與相鄰神經互動
05:16
and they start開始 releasing釋放 their neurotransmitters神經遞質,
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然後神經細胞被活化,釋出神經傳導素,
05:19
and those neurotransmitters神經遞質 spill out
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這些神經傳導素被釋放
05:21
and activate啟用 adjacent glial神經膠質 cells細胞, and so on and so forth向前,
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活化鄰近的神經膠質細胞.然後相同故事一再重演.
05:24
until直到 what we have
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直到一個
05:26
is a positive feedback反饋 loop循環.
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正向回饋循環系統產生。
05:28
It's almost幾乎 as if somebody came來了 into your home
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這幾乎好像有人走進你的家,
05:30
and rewired重新佈線 your walls牆壁
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重新佈署你的牆中的電線系統.
05:32
so that the next下一個 time you turned轉身 on the light switch開關,
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所以當下次你開燈時
05:34
the toilet廁所 flushed three doors down,
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廁所馬桶自動乒乒乓乓沖洗.
05:36
or your dishwasher洗碗機 went on,
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或者洗碗機自動起動,
05:38
or your computer電腦 monitor監控 turned轉身 off.
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或電腦顯視窗自動關閉.
05:40
That's crazy,
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這簡直是瘋了,
05:42
but that's, in fact事實, what happens發生
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但事實就是這樣.這就是
05:44
with chronic慢性 pain疼痛.
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慢性疼痛的行情.
05:46
And that's why pain疼痛 becomes its own擁有 disease疾病.
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這也就是為什麼疼痛本身變成了疾病的原因。
05:49
The nervous緊張 system系統 has plasticity可塑性.
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神經系統具有(對環境改變的)可塑適應性。
05:51
It changes變化, and it morphs變種
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它會改變或者說變種
05:53
in response響應 to stimuli刺激.
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來反應不同的刺激.
05:55
Well, what do we do about that?
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那麼,我們該怎麼辦呢?
05:57
What can we do in a case案件 like Chandler's錢德勒的?
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有什麼我們可以幫助璇得拉的呢?
06:00
We treat對待 these patients耐心 in a rather crude原油 fashion時尚
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目前我們對這些病人的治療方法,還停留在
06:02
at this point in time.
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一個相當粗糙的階段.
06:04
We treat對待 them with symptom-modifying改善症狀 drugs毒品 --
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我們隨他們症狀改變調整藥物
06:07
painkillers止痛藥 --
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--止痛藥--
06:09
which哪一個 are, frankly坦率地說, not very effective有效
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坦率地說,對這種痛苦
06:11
for this kind of pain疼痛.
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藥物不是很有效。
06:13
We take nerves神經 that are noisy嘈雜 and active活性
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對於原本是安靜但現在
06:15
that should be quiet安靜,
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嘈雜過動的神經,
06:17
and we put them to sleep睡覺 with local本地 anesthetics麻醉劑.
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我們使用局部麻醉劑使它們睡覺.
06:19
And most importantly重要的, what we do
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但最重要的方法是,我們
06:22
is we use a rigorous嚴格, and often經常 uncomfortable不舒服, process處理
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採用很嚴格的,而且通常非常不舒服的
06:26
of physical物理 therapy治療 and occupational職業 therapy治療
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物理治療及職業治療的過程來
06:29
to retrain再培訓 the nerves神經 in the nervous緊張 system系統
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再教育神經系統裡的神經,
06:32
to respond響應 normally一般
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反應正常。
06:35
to the activities活動 and sensory感覺的 experiences經驗
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尤其是那些日常生活的一切
06:38
that are part部分 of everyday每天 life.
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正常活動與感官經驗。
06:40
And we support支持 all of that
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我們利用
06:42
with an intensive集約 psychotherapy心理治療 program程序
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密集心理治療課程
06:45
to address地址 the despondency沮喪, despair絕望 and depression蕭條
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來支持所有這一切因
06:48
that always accompanies相伴
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嚴重慢性疼痛所伴隨引起的
06:50
severe嚴重, chronic慢性 pain疼痛.
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沮喪,絕望和憂鬱症。
06:52
It's successful成功,
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璇得拉的例子是成功了,
06:54
as you can see from this video視頻 of Chandler錢德勒,
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你可以看到這個視頻中的璇得拉,
06:56
who, two months個月 after we first met會見 her,
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距離她第一次踏入我們的診療室後兩個月的現在,
06:58
is now doings行為 a back flip翻動.
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她已經可以表演後翻轉。
07:00
And I had lunch午餐 with her yesterday昨天
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昨天我和她一起吃午飯,
07:02
because she's a college學院 student學生 studying研究 dance舞蹈 at Long Beach海灘 here,
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因為她在Long Beach的一間大學學習舞蹈專業,
07:05
and she's doing absolutely絕對 fantastic奇妙.
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現在康復非常好,在校表現很棒.
07:07
But the future未來 is actually其實 even brighter光明.
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實際上未來的藍圖將更美好。
07:11
The future未來 holds持有 the promise諾言
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曙光已出現,
07:14
that new drugs毒品 will be developed發達
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新的有效藥品已經快要問世.
07:16
that are not symptom-modifying改善症狀 drugs毒品
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未來的藥品不再是只是症狀控制的藥物,
07:19
that simply只是 mask面具 the problem問題,
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如我們所知現在的藥物
07:21
as we have now,
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只會掩蓋了疼痛症狀而已。
07:23
but that will be disease-modifying疾病修飾 drugs毒品
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新的藥品將為疾病本身作必要的修改(對症下藥),
07:26
that will actually其實 go right to the root of the problem問題
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會確切的尋覓到疼痛根本的問題,
07:28
and attack攻擊 those glial神經膠質 cells細胞,
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攻擊神經膠質細胞,
07:30
or those pernicious有害 proteins蛋白質
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或那些神經膠質細胞
07:32
that the glial神經膠質 cells細胞 elaborate闡述,
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所產生的有害的蛋白質,
07:35
that spill over and cause原因 this central中央 nervous緊張 system系統 wind-up結束,
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這些蛋白質釋出後會,導致這個中心神經系統罷工
07:38
or plasticity可塑性,
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或變異。
07:40
that so is capable
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這麼就可以對抗
07:42
of distorting扭曲 and amplifying放大
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扭曲和放大的感官經驗,
07:44
the sensory感覺的 experience經驗 that we call pain疼痛.
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也就是我們所指的疼痛。
07:46
So I have hope希望
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所以我希望
07:48
that in the future未來,
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在不久的將來,
07:50
the prophetic預言的 words of George喬治 Carlin卡林 will be realized實現,
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喬治卡林的聞名真言可被實現:
07:53
who said, "My philosophy哲學:
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“我的哲學:
07:55
No pain疼痛, no pain疼痛."
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沒有痛苦,沒有痛苦。“
07:59
Thank you very much.
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謝謝大家。
08:01
(Applause掌聲)
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(鼓掌)
Translated by Inder Peng(彭)
Reviewed by Shelley Krishna R. TSANG

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elliot Krane - Pediatric anesthesiologist
At the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Elliot Krane works on the problem of treating pain in children.

Why you should listen

It's an awful problem to contemplate: How do you help a young child in pain? As director of Pain Management Services at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Elliot Krane works on solving this problem, studying and treating kids who are undergoing surgeries, suffering from complications of diabetes -- and kids suffering "neuropathic pain" resulting from injury to the nervous system itself.

More profile about the speaker
Elliot Krane | Speaker | TED.com