Sleeping Behavior Predicts Neurodegenerative Diseases

New research found out that a sleep disorder could predict dementia, Parkinson's or multiple system atrophy up to 50 years before the diagnosis. By analyzing the records of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, scientists found out that 27 people experienced REM sleep behavior disorders for at least 15 years before developing one of the three medical conditions.

Between the time the sleep disorder started and the first symptoms of the neurological disorders, 50 years could pass by. The average time period was 25 years and 13 of the participants were diagnosed with dementia, another 13 with Parkinson's and one with multiple system atrophy, which is a disorder that causes symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease. People that suffer from rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder make violent moves and risk injuring themselves or people they sleep with.

Study author Bradley F. Boeve, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and a member of the American Academy of Neurology said that “Our findings suggest that in some patients, conditions such as Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies have a very long span of activity within the brain and they also may have a long period of time where other symptoms aren't apparent. More research is needed on this possible link so that scientists may be able to develop therapies that would slow down or stop the progression of these disorders years before the symptoms of Parkinson's disease or dementia appear.”

Nobody knows how many people that suffer from REM disorder might develop these diseases. A corresponding editorial said that there is no evidence that narcolepsy accompanied or not by REM disorder, will later cause neurodegenerative disorders, relates e! Science News. The current research is published in the July 28, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.