By Anuj Chandra, M.D., D.ABSM
A new research study has shown a connection between
smoking, head injury and pesticide use and a rare sleep disorder called REM
Sleep Behavior Disorder, in which people kick or punch during sleep.
Normally, when we go into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep
and start dreaming, we lose muscle tone and remain literally paralyzed for as
long as we are dreaming. People with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder do not lose
the ability to move, however. Instead, their dreams actually cause them to
move. In mild cases, they may kick or punch during sleep. In more severe cases,
they may get out of bed and act out their dreams. Whether the condition is mild
or severe, people with this disorder may be a danger to themselves and to their
bed partner because their movements can sometimes become violent.
The study, from McGill University in Canada, shows that
people with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder were:
- 43 percent more likely to be smokers,
- 59 percent more likely to have had a previous head injury with loss of consciousness,
- 67 percent more likely to have worked as farmers, and
- more than twice as likely to have been exposed to pesticides through work.
What this tells us is that people with these risk factors
need to be monitored carefully for signs of REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.
Unfortunately, the study did not provide any new insights
into treatment, which currently involves giving a muscle relaxer and making
changes to the sleeping environment to reduce the risk of injury.
This research was prompted because more than 50 percent
of people with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder eventually develop Parkinson's
disease or other degenerative neurological disease. But the connection with
Parkinson's was inconsistent, with some risk factors shared between the two and
other factors not connected.
