Sleep Disorder May Predate Parkinson’s, Dementia By Decades
July 29, 2010 at 4:36 AM by AHN · Leave a Comment
Rochester, MN, United States (AHN) – Having a certain sleep disorder may be a predictor of dementia and Parkinson’s disease up to 50 years later, according to a recent study.
Researchers with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota identified 27 people who experienced rapid eye movement sleep behavior for at least 15 years before developing either Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies or multiple system atrophy. The latter is a disorder with similar symptoms to Parkinson’s.
REM sleep behavior disorder can lead to people acting out their dreams with violent movements that can hurt themselves or their sleeping partners, the researchers said in a statement.
The researchers said that the time between the start of the sleeping disorder and appearance of symptoms of the neurological disorders was on average 25 years, but ranged up to 50 years.
Of the 27 patients, 13 were diagnosed with dementia, 13 with Parkinson’s and one with multiple system atrophy.
A report on the study appears in the July 28 online edition of Neurology.
