美國小男孩患上罕見病症 普通恐懼即可致死

Reed Havlik is one of only 200 people worldwide with Vanishing White Matter (VWM) disease -- a rare neurological condition that leads to rapid nerve deterioration.

裏德·哈夫利克是世界上僅有的200名白質消失症患者中的一位，這是一種罕見的神經系統疾病，可導致神經迅速惡化。

Basic fright could kill him.

基本的恐懼都可能讓他致死。

The 5-year-old Iowa boy has to avoid creepy movies and Halloween trick-or-treaters because a serious scare could cause pressure on his brain that could put him in a coma.

這名5歲的愛荷華州男孩，必須避免看恐怖電影和參加萬聖節“不給糖就搗蛋”的活動，因爲嚴重的驚嚇可能會對他的大腦造成壓力，使他陷入昏迷。

"We have to be really careful what we expose him to because he could be frightened to death," his mom, Erika Havlik, told SWNS.

他的媽媽艾麗卡·哈夫利克向SWNS電視臺透露：“我們必須非常小心他周圍的環境，因爲他可能會被嚇死。”

VWM disease has no cure or treatment -- and the life expectancy of sufferers is around 10 years.

白質消失症沒有治癒或治療方法，患者的預期壽命約爲10年。

Reed, who was diagnosed by specialists at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, in Iowa City in 2015, started having mobility issues at the age of 2.

裏德於2015年被愛荷華市的愛荷華大學兒童醫院的專家診斷出患有該病症，他在2歲時就開始出現行動問題。

An MRI scan showed the extent of his rare, terminal disease. As the white matter in Reed's brain disintegrates, this will lead to organ failure.

核磁共振掃描顯示出他的罕見絕症到了什麼程度。隨着裏德大腦中的白質分解，器官將會衰竭。

His brain will be unable to communicate with his body and he will slowly be unable to talk, eat and eventually breathe.

他的大腦將無法與他的身體交流，他將慢慢地不能說話、吃飯，最後無法呼吸。

Speaking further to SWNS, Erika described the day she found out about his diagnosis. "It was gut-wrenching. Sickening," she said.

在與SWNS電視臺的進一步交談中，艾麗卡描述了她得知他的診斷結果的那一天。她說：“撕心裂肺的痛苦。令人厭惡。”

"We are trying to give him the best life we possibly can and enjoy him whilst we can," Erika said. "Our world has been altered completely."

艾麗卡表示：“我們試着給他最好的生活，儘可能地讓他開心。我們的世界已經完全改變了。”