Such changes may indicate Parkinson's disease!

Reviewer of this article: Chen Haixu, Deputy Director and Master Supervisor of the Second Medical Center of PLA General Hospital

British researchers say that nightmares in the elderly may be an early symptom of Parkinson's disease. The new study, published in Clinical Medicine on June 8, found that among a group of elderly men, those who had frequent nightmares were twice as likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease later in life as those who did not have nightmares.

Previous studies have shown that Parkinson's patients experience nightmares more frequently than the general adult population, but this has not been considered a risk marker for Parkinson's disease.

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"While early diagnosis does have benefits in Parkinson's disease, there are few risk indicators, many of which require expensive tests in hospital," said lead author Abidemi Otaiku, from the Centre for Human Brain Health at the University of Birmingham.

"While we need further research in this area, identifying the significance of nightmares may mean that older adults who experience changes in their dreams without any obvious triggers should seek medical advice," Otaiku said.

The team used data from a large cohort study in the United States, which included 12 years of data from 3,818 older men living alone. At the beginning of the study, the men completed a series of questionnaires that included questions about sleep quality.

After the study, the researchers followed up with participants who reported having nightmares at least once a week to see if they were more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

During the follow-up period, 91 cases of Parkinson's disease were diagnosed. The researchers found that participants who had frequent nightmares were twice as likely to develop the disease as those who did not have nightmares. Most diagnoses occurred within 5 years of the start of the study. Participants who had frequent nightmares during this period were more than three times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease.

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The findings suggest that older people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease are likely to start experiencing bad nightmares years before they develop symptoms including tremors, stiffness and slow movements.

The study also suggests that dreams can reveal important information about brain structure and function, which could become an important target for neuroscience research.

The researchers plan to use EEG to study the biological causes of changes in dreams. They will also look to replicate these findings in a larger, more diverse cohort and explore the link between dreams and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Source: China Science Daily

Related paper information:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101474

China Science Daily (2022-06-10, 2nd edition, original international title: "Nightmare Warning of Parkinson's Disease")

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