Can multiple nightmares be the first sign of this disease?
Parkinson's is a disease that usually appears at later ages but starts decades ago.
A small study found that multiple nightmares can indicate the development of the disease in men
Walla!
health
21/06/2022
Tuesday, 21 June 2022, 06:49 Updated: 07:46
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The development of nightmares later in life may be an early sign of Parkinson's disease, according to a new study published in EClinicalMedicine.
While this may sound surprising to you, this is not the first time nightmares have been linked to neurological disease, especially in men, but it is the first study to investigate whether these symptoms are a warning for Parkinson's or a byproduct of degenerative neurological disease.
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To the full article
After monitoring the health of 3,818 older men with normal brain function for 12 years, the researchers found that those who experienced frequent nightmares were twice as likely to develop Parkinson's.
Most of the diagnoses occurred in the first five years of the study.
The results suggest that older men can be tested for Parkinson's by asking about the content of their dreams.
Early interventions can then be used to help stop the possible onset of physical symptoms, such as tremor, stiffness and slowness.
Early diagnosis is essential.
Hands of an adult (Photo: ShutterStock)
One of the biggest challenges with Parkinson's disease is early diagnosis.
By the time most people realize they are suffering from the disease, they have already lost 60 to 80 percent of the neurons that release dopamine in part of their brain stem.
Moreover, a previous study by the same researcher found that patients with bad dreams are five times more likely to show rapid disease progression.
The disease has been incubating in the body decades earlier
"While it can be very helpful to diagnose Parkinson's disease early, there are very few risk measures and many of them require expensive hospital tests or are very common and non-specific, like diabetes," explains neurologist Avimi Otaiko of the University of Birmingham.
It is important to note that before the disease is diagnosed it can incubate in the body decades before in the human brain or body.
"Although we need to do more research in this area, identifying the meaning of bad dreams and nightmares may indicate that people who experience changes in their dreams at an older age - without any obvious trigger - should seek medical advice."
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The connection between sleep and Parkinson's is a connection that has been researched for several years.
About a quarter of Parkinson's patients report frequent disturbing dreams from the moment of diagnosis, and some report bad dreams up to 10 years before they are diagnosed.
Previous studies have even indicated that people with Parkinson's disease are four times more likely to experience frequent nightmares than those in the general population.
In addition, Parkinson's patients are also more likely to develop rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disorders.
However, so far it has not been clear whether these symptoms were a byproduct of Parkinson's or a precursor known as a "prodrome."
The present study helps to clarify the distinction by following a large sample of older men over more than a decade.
In the study, participants with frequently reported nightmares were twice as likely to develop Parkinson's over 12 years.
Moreover, in the first four years of the study, frequent nightmares were associated with a six-fold increase in the risk of developing neurological disease.
Without further research to measure brain activity during sleep, it is difficult to say what happens at the biological level in Parkinson's patients who experience nightmares.
Men with Parkinson's tend to have more disturbing dreams than women with Parkinson's, but it's still not clear why.
One hypothesis is that the late onset of nightmares is an early sign of neurodegeneration in some men.
In addition, women are significantly more likely to experience regular nightmares early in life, but after age 65, men begin to catch up.
Maybe something changes in the frontal cortex, which regulates emotions during sleep as the male brain ages.
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