Sleep Disorder Linked to Parkinson's, Alzheimer's

A sleep disorder that causes individuals to act out their dreams may be an indicator of certain brain diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers from the University of Toronto.

"Rapid-eye-movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is not just a precursor but also a critical warning sign of neurodegeneration that can lead to brain disease," said associate professor and lead author Dr. John Peever, via a press release. "In fact, as many as 80 to 90 percent of people with RBD will develop a brain disease."

As most individuals will become temporarily paralyzed during rapid-eye-movement (REM) cycles of sleep, those suffering from this disorder may try to act out their dreams. Often times, this can unfortunately result in injury to the individual or their bed partner.

"It's important for clinicians to recognize RBD as a potential indication of brain disease in order to diagnose patients at an earlier stage," Peever adds, via the release. "This is important because drugs that reduce neurodegeneration could be used in RBD patients to prevent (or protect) them from developing more severe degenerative disorders."

His research emphasizes the idea that neurodegeneration could potentially first affect areas of the brain that control sleep before interfering with areas responsible for certain brain diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

With future studies, he and other researchers hope to find a more effective treatment for certain neurodegenerative diseases.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Trends in Neuroscience.