AP11195

Prompt: Science Summary

A review originally published in the //Journal of Parkinson’s Disease// discussed sleep problems experienced by people living with Parkinson’s disease. Among these difficulties are disturbed sleep/wake patterns (IOS Press BV). This disruption in Parkinson’s disease patients’ circadian rhythms (Wood, 112) results in daytime sleepiness and nighttime alertness. Furthermore, some patients were subject to “sudden and involuntary daytime sleep ‘attacks’” (IOS Press BV), which brought to mind the symptoms of people who suffer from narcolepsy (Wood, 116) who are affected by uncontrollable “attacks” of sleep. Among other sleep problems for Parkinson’s disease patients is REM-sleep behavior disorder or RBD (IOS Press BV) which involves symptoms that are quite similar to somnambulism (sleepwalking) (Wood, 116) and somniloquy (sleep talking) (Wood, 116). RBD involves dream enactment (IOS Press BV), which is characterized by excessive movement and talking which are also exhibited in sleepwalking/talking. According to Dr. Schrempf, who works at a university in Germany, RBD is a “good clinical predictor of emerging neurodegenerative diseases” (IOS Press BV) as it occurs prior to more characteristic symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. I would like to see data supporting this claim and more defining characteristics of RBD because I feel that it would be easy to confuse the symptoms of RBD with sleepwalking/talking.

References:

Wood, Samuel E., Ellen Wood, and Denise Boyd. //Mastering the World of Psychology//. 2nd ed. Massachusetts: Pearson Education, 2011. Print.

IOS Press BV. "Sleep disturbances, common in Parkinson's disease, can be early indicator of disease onset." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 July 2014. .

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