Spinach¹ may cause Alzheimer's disease in at-risk people, research suggests.

研究表明，菠菜也许会使高危人群患上阿兹海默症（老年痴呆症）。

The salad leaf's iron-rich content may damage the brain similar to how the compound causes metal to rust², according to the researchers.

研究人员指出，沙拉菜叶中富含铁的部分也许会损害大脑，原理类似于化合物使金属生锈。

People with high levels of iron alongside the protein amyloid, which has previously³ been associated with Alzheimer's, are more likely to experience rapid cognitive⁴ decline, a study found.

先前的研究显示，淀粉样蛋白与阿兹海默症有关。这项研究发现，体内铁和淀粉样蛋白含量高的人，更容易发生认知能力的迅速衰退。

Those with high amyloid but low iron levels are less at-risk of the disease, the research adds.

研究还表示，体内淀粉样蛋白含量高但铁含量低的人们，患阿兹海默症的风险相对较小。

Removing such 'rust' from the brain could prevent or delay the degenerative condition, the researchers add.

研究人员补充道，将“铁锈”从大脑中移除可以预防或延缓退化性疾病的发生。

Rusting⁵ in the brain

脑中生锈

Lead author Dr Scott Ayton from the University of Melbourne, said: 'The rusting you see on iron metal is the same rusting reaction that occurs in the brain,' The Express reported.

据《每日快报》报道，来自墨尔本大学的首席作者斯科特•艾顿博士说：“金属铁表面的生锈过程和大脑中发生的生锈反应是一样的。”

Although iron is important for energy, it can cause cellular⁶ stress and their subsequent death.

尽管铁对人体能量很重要，但它会引发细胞应激甚至使其死亡。

The researchers plan to conduct a five-year trial investigating whether an anti-iron drug could treat Alzheimer's.

研究人员计划开展一项为期5年的试验，调查抗铁药物能否治疗阿兹海默症。

Treatments that focus on altering amyloid levels have had limited success.

以改变淀粉样蛋白水平为主的治疗方法收效甚微。

Dr Ayton said: 'Given the data from our study, it seems reasonable to hypothesise that lowering iron in the brain would slow the progression of the disease, but we can only know that by testing it, which is what we are now going to do.'

艾顿博士说道：“我们的研究数据显示，降低大脑中的铁含量会使疾病进程减缓这一假设似乎是合理的，但我们必须通过测试才能确知，而这也是我们现在将要做的。”

Do not cut back on dietary iron

不要减少摄入膳食中的铁

The researchers do not recommend people cut back on their dietary iron intake⁷ to reduce their Alzheimer's risk.

研究人员不建议人们通过减少膳食中铁的摄入量来降低患阿兹海默症的几率。

This is because the amount of the iron in the brain appears unrelated to levels in the blood or a person's food intake.

这是因为大脑中铁的含量与血液含铁水平或是个人食物的摄入似乎都无关。

Dr Ayton said: 'We don't have any evidence that the amount of iron you eat, or the amount that is measured in your blood, has any impact on the amount of iron in your brain, so we are not recommending people change what they eat based on our research.'

艾顿博士说道：“我们没有任何证据说明你摄入的铁或是你血液中测量出来的铁，对你大脑中的铁含量有任何的影响。因此我们不会基于本研究去建议人们改变饮食。”