Scientists from Aarhus University found that restless sleep could be a sign of a disorder associated with diseases of the brain.
The research is published in The Lancet Neurology and was conducted by Morten Gersel Stokholm et al.
Parkinson’s disease occurs because dopamine-producing brain cells stop working.
In the study, the team examined the condition of the dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain and cells that participate in the brain’s immune system in people suffering from rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD).
The RBD sleep disorder is characterized by disturbances in the part of sleep where dreams take place.
Healthy people are relaxed and still during dream sleep, while people suffering from RBD live out their dreams so that while sleeping, they flail, kick and shout.
The team found that patients suffering from RBD have a risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or dementia in the future because they already suffer from a lack of dopamine in the brain.
These patients have an inflammation of the brain in the area where the dopamine-producing nerve cells are found.
The study provides new knowledge about the disease processes in the brain in the early initial stages of disease development.
This knowledge can be used to determine which patients with the sleep disorder will later develop Parkinson’s disease.
Sleep disorder most often affects persons aged 50 to 70, and more frequently men than women.
There are 7,300 Parkinson’s disease patients in Denmark. Symptoms are slow movements, often with shaking, together with muscular rigidity.
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic condition that continues to worsen over time. The disease is somewhat more common in men than in women.
Parkinson’s disease is caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain. It primarily affects adults, and the first signs most often appear between the ages of 50 to 70.
If you care about sleep quality, please read studies about herb that could help you sleep well at night, and drugs that could lower severity of sleep apnea by one third.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about why exercise may help treat Parkinson’s disease, and results showing these heartburn drugs may increase risk of dementia.
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