教学素材 | 梦境如何反映健康

Have you ever wondered why we dream? Rosalind Cartwright, Ph.D., says that dreams are the way the brain "incorporates memories, solves problems and deals with emotions. In this way, dreams are essential for our emotional health."

你是否思考过，我们为什么会做梦呢？罗莎琳德·卡特赖特博士认为，梦是大脑“储存记忆、解决问题和处理情感的一种方式。因此，梦对我们的心理健康至关重要。”

While dreaming is an important and necessary physiological phenomenon to help with our memory and mental health, dreams can also indicate other health issues that might need our attention. From nightmares to the frequency of dreams, we can learn a lot of information from our nocturnal adventures.

做梦是一种重要且必不可少的生理现象，有助于我们加强记忆、保持心理健康，但梦境也能提醒我们需要警惕健康问题。从做噩梦到做梦的频率，我们可以从夜晚的梦境中了解到不少信息。

Nightmares can be a warning sign

噩梦或提示健康有恙

There's nothing worse than waking from a nightmare in a cold sweat, heart pounding and nerves rattled. While a nightmare from time to time is generally not anything to worry about, frequent nightmares can indicate something more serious is going on with your health. One study found that nightmares can be linked to heart disease, with an irregular heartbeat increasing your risk of nightmares even more. This is because heart disease can decrease the amount of oxygen reaching your brain, which can trigger a nightmare.

没有什么比从噩梦中惊醒，吓出一身冷汗，让你心惊肉跳、神经紧张更加糟糕的了。偶尔做噩梦通常无需担心，但经常做噩梦可能表明你的健康出现了问题。一项研究发现，做噩梦与心脏病之间存在关联，而心律不齐会增加做噩梦的风险。这是由于心脏病会减少进入大脑的氧气量并导致做噩梦。

Another possible cause of nightmares is sleep apnea, a chronic condition that can really mess with your REM sleep due to lack of oxygen. "Patients have had terrifying dreams of drowning or suffocation," says William Kohler, MD, medical director of the Florida Sleep Institute,  "in reality, their airway is blocked off."

导致噩梦的另一因素或为“睡眠呼吸暂停”。这是一种慢性疾病，由于呼吸暂停，快速眼动睡眠（REM）会因为缺氧而被严重扰乱。美国佛罗里达睡眠研究所医学博士威廉·科勒指出，“曾经有病人梦见溺水或窒息的可怕情景，而在现实生活中，他们出现了呼吸道堵塞。”

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Dream frequency may point to a number of conditions

频繁做梦可能反映了一系列问题

Most people have about four to six dreams every night, but don't remember near that many. Interestingly, we're more likely to remember dreams if we wake up right before the dream is over, or soon after it. Mood disorders like anxiety and depression might be a cause of increased dream frequency. If you are concerned, you might try keeping a journal by your bed and noting the frequency of your dreams. Although you might not think you are suffering from a mood disorder, the frequency of your dreams might say otherwise.

大多数人每天晚上都会做4-6个梦，但却记不住这么多的梦。有趣的是，如果我们在梦境正要结束前或者梦境结束后立即醒来，我们就更有可能记住梦的内容。焦虑和抑郁等情绪障碍可能会导致频繁做梦。如果你常有心事，可以尝试在床头写写日记，记录做梦的频率。即使你可能不觉得自己有情绪上的障碍，但做梦的频率往往便能说明问题。

Vivid dreams and bizarre dreams

生动和怪诞的梦境

Vivid dreams may arise for a variety of reasons. They may indicate you are suffering from certain medical conditions, which might include neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease. There are other, less frightening reasons for your weird dreams as well, so don't jump to conclusions too quickly.

造成梦境栩栩如生的因素有很多。它们或许表明你患有某些疾病，其中可能包括帕金森病等神经退行性疾病。也有些不那么可怕的原因会导致怪异梦境的产生，所以不要太快下结论。

This may come as a surprise to you, but particularly bizarre or memorable dreams might also indicate a possible infection. "Any infection increases the amount of slow-wave sleep we have, however, this delays the starting point of when we enter dreaming sleep, so dreaming sleep starts late, and can erupt into consciousness. This leads to vivid dreams and strange hallucinations," says Dr. Patrick McNamara, a neurologist from Boston University Medical School.

虽然这听起来非常离奇，但特别怪异荒诞或者令人记忆犹新的梦境可能表明你体内存在病菌感染。美国波士顿大学医学院神经病学家帕特里克·麦克纳马拉博士表示，“人体受到病菌感染时，处于慢波睡眠的时间会增加，但有梦睡眠会延后，容易使睡梦进入有意识的状态，导致栩栩如生和离奇怪诞的梦境产生。

Alcohol can also prompt vivid and memorable dreams. This is because the effects of alcohol wear off toward morning, affecting your brain chemicals and triggering bizarre dreams.

酒精也可以诱发生动且难忘的梦境。这是由于临近早晨，酒精的作用逐渐减弱，大脑化学物质水平会受到影响，导致怪诞梦境的产生。

VOCABULARY

1. nocturnal adj. 夜间发生的

2. nightmare n. 噩梦

3. rattle v. 使紧张；使恐惧

4. heartbeat n. 心跳；心搏；心跳声

5. sleep apnea 睡眠呼吸暂停

6. REM sleep 快速眼动睡眠

7. suffocation n. 窒息；闷死

8. airway n. 气道

9. neurodegenerative adj. 神经退行性的

10. slow-wave sleep 慢波睡眠

11. hallucination n. 幻觉

12. neurologist n. 神经病学家

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