Dreams may be predictive of health outcomes in the long run. Having regular nightmares in childhood may be linked to the development of cognitive impairment or Parkinson's disease later on.

从长远来看，梦可能预示着未来的健康状况。童年时期经常做噩梦，可能与之后的认知障碍或帕金森氏症的发展有关。

For the new study, which was published in The Lancet's journal eClinicalMedicine, a clinical fellow at the University of Birmingham, Abidemi Otaiku, looked at data from a group of nearly 7,000 children who were a part of the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study.

这项新研究发表在《柳叶刀》杂志《电子临床医学》上，伯明翰大学的临床研究员阿比德米·奥塔库研究了近7,000名儿童的数据，这些儿童是1958年英国出生队列研究的一部分。

A previous study has shown that frequently having distressing dreams in middle and older adulthood may be associated with increased risks for such conditions later in life. But whether a similar association is present with childhood nightmares has yet to be evaluated.

先前的一项研究表明，在中老年时期经常做痛苦的梦，可能会增加晚年患此类疾病的风险。但童年噩梦是否也存在类似的联系还有待评估。

"Given that a large proportion of people who experience regular nightmares as adults also report having had regular nightmares when they were children, this made me wonder whether having lots of bad dreams during childhood might predict the development of dementia or Parkinson's disease later in life," Otaiku noted in a piece on The Conversation.

奥塔库在《对话》上一份研究报告中指出：“考虑到有很大一部分成年人经常做噩梦，他们在儿童时期也经常做噩梦，这让我想知道，童年时期做很多噩梦是否预示着以后会患上痴呆症或帕金森病。”

The 1958 British Birth Cohort Study followed the lives of children in England, Scotland and Wales, who were born in the week of March 3 to 9, 1958. In it, the mothers answered some questions about their kids' health at ages seven and 11. This includes whether the children had bad dreams in the three months prior.

1958年英国出生队列研究，跟踪了英格兰、苏格兰和威尔士儿童的生活，这些儿童都出生于1958年3月3日至9日这一周。在调查中，母亲们回答了一些关于孩子7岁和11岁时健康状况的问题。包括孩子们在三个月前是否做过噩梦。

He found that those who had persistent bad dreams had 85% increased risks of developing cognitive impairment or Parkinson's disease by age 50 compared to those who didn't.

奥塔库发现，持续做噩梦的人到50岁时患认知障碍或帕金森病的风险比不做噩梦的人高出85%。

"The results were clear," Otaiku said in the piece. "The more regularly the children experienced bad dreams, the more likely they were to develop cognitive impairment or be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease."

“结果很明显，”奥塔库在文章中说。“孩子们做噩梦的频率越高，他们日后就越有可能出现认知障碍或被诊断为帕金森氏症。“

Further studies are needed to confirm the findings, Otaiku said, noting a possible genetic connection — a particular gene known to up the risk of having nightmares regularly that's also linked to increased risks for Alzheimer's disease in older age. It's also possible that the disturbed sleep due to nightmares may be playing a part in the possible connection.

奥塔库说，需要进一步的研究来证实这一发现，并指出了一种可能的基因联系——一种已知会增加经常做噩梦风险的特定基因，也与老年痴呆症风险增加有关。也有可能是由于噩梦而导致的睡眠障碍在这种可能的联系中起了作用。

Still, the results shouldn't be a cause for alarm, Otaiku said, as only a small percentage of the population ended up developing cognitive impairment or Parkinson's Disease.

尽管如此，研究结果也不必引起恐慌，奥塔库说，因为只有一小部分人最终患上了认知障碍或帕金森氏症。