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Apr 9, 2018 13:32
6 yrs ago
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French term
United Kingdom
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French to English
Medical
Psychology
I'm translating a French psychiatric report and I'm stuck on this long and complicated sentence:
Il est déjà inhabituel qu’un traitement pharmacologique de première intention et l’échec d’une thérapie cognitivo-behaviorale de désensibilisation prolongée soient compensés par un ultime traitement additionnel, si celui-ci n’est pas pris d’une façon fiable et régulière, il n’y a aucune chance que cela fonctionne.
This is my attempt:
It is already unusual that a first-line pharmacological treatment and the failure of long-term desensitization therapy (a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy) have been less successful than a final additional treatment, since taking it irregularly means it will not work.
I think the "final additional treatment" is Prozac, because the report later says the patient isn't taking her Prozac regularly.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Il est déjà inhabituel qu’un traitement pharmacologique de première intention et l’échec d’une thérapie cognitivo-behaviorale de désensibilisation prolongée soient compensés par un ultime traitement additionnel, si celui-ci n’est pas pris d’une façon fiable et régulière, il n’y a aucune chance que cela fonctionne.
This is my attempt:
It is already unusual that a first-line pharmacological treatment and the failure of long-term desensitization therapy (a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy) have been less successful than a final additional treatment, since taking it irregularly means it will not work.
I think the "final additional treatment" is Prozac, because the report later says the patient isn't taking her Prozac regularly.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 | [will be] offset by/affected by |
liz askew
|
| 2 | be made up for by (using) |
Tony M
|
Proposed translations
1 hr
be made up for by (using)
Polyglot's interpetation is of course correct, and 'made up for' is only an eevryday expression to convey the underlying sense of 'compenser'.
Personally, I think I'd tend to turn the sentence round and say something like:
"Already, it is unusual for an additional last-ditch treatment, which is bound to be unsuccessful if it is not taken reliably and regularly, to be used to (try and) make up for the failure of long-term cognito-behavioural desensitization therapy and a first-line pharmacoloogical treatment"
I think once the ideas are re-arranged in that order, it makes it a little easier to see the wood for the trees, and thence to arrive at a more appropriate form of wording than my very informal suggestion!
I would like to know if the 'already' has any significance — on the face of it, it could seem to suggest some implied criticism of the previous treatment, as if it were then going to go on and say "Not to mention the fact of prescribing green pyjamas and cold-water baths!"
I also sense the implied 'to try to' which I have added in brackets — again, implying criticism of the previous treatment protocol.
Because my suggestion is only an informal interpretation, not a finalized translation solution, I have also used 'last-ditch treatment' — I realize the s/t is not "d'ultime recours", but by the use of 'final', it seems to me the writer is seeking to highlight the difference between a 'front-line' treatment and a 'last resort' one, and suggest that other techniques could have been tried in between...
I do hasten to add that I am not in any way a medical expert, though I do have some empirical experience of this kind of situation. So my suggestions is purely based on linguistic considerations + limited personal experience!
Personally, I think I'd tend to turn the sentence round and say something like:
"Already, it is unusual for an additional last-ditch treatment, which is bound to be unsuccessful if it is not taken reliably and regularly, to be used to (try and) make up for the failure of long-term cognito-behavioural desensitization therapy and a first-line pharmacoloogical treatment"
I think once the ideas are re-arranged in that order, it makes it a little easier to see the wood for the trees, and thence to arrive at a more appropriate form of wording than my very informal suggestion!
I would like to know if the 'already' has any significance — on the face of it, it could seem to suggest some implied criticism of the previous treatment, as if it were then going to go on and say "Not to mention the fact of prescribing green pyjamas and cold-water baths!"
I also sense the implied 'to try to' which I have added in brackets — again, implying criticism of the previous treatment protocol.
Because my suggestion is only an informal interpretation, not a finalized translation solution, I have also used 'last-ditch treatment' — I realize the s/t is not "d'ultime recours", but by the use of 'final', it seems to me the writer is seeking to highlight the difference between a 'front-line' treatment and a 'last resort' one, and suggest that other techniques could have been tried in between...
I do hasten to add that I am not in any way a medical expert, though I do have some empirical experience of this kind of situation. So my suggestions is purely based on linguistic considerations + limited personal experience!
1 hr
Discussion
Your suggestion "...it would still be unlikely to work, considering it is a last-ditch treatment and that ..."
Although it might be generally "considered that it is a last-ditch treatment", it is certainly not BECAUSE it is a last-ditch treatment that it isn't going to work — it's just that there are other things that could / should have been tried first...
Thanks, by the way, for crediting both Polyglot and Herbalchemist, whilst ignoring my contribution, from which I see you chose however to use my suggestion of "last-dithc treatment" — even though, as I was at pains to state, this was just an informal term to give you the general idea, and probably not appropriate for the register of the document here!
In the end, I've taken inspiration from herbalchemist and polyglot45 and came up with:
"The Fluoxetine will not work if she is not taking it regularly. Furthermore, even if she were taking it regularly, it would still be unlikely to work, considering it is a last-ditch treatment and that the initial therapy (a first-line medication plus prolonged desensitisation therapy) was unsuccessful."
It is already unlikely for an additional pharmacological treatment to be successful if the initial combination of the first drug plus prolonged desensitisation therapy was not.