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NDTV
4 days ago
- Health
- NDTV
Sleeping Disorders May Signal Risk Of Parkinson's Disease, Dementia: Study
New Delhi: Sleeping disorders may act as an early indicator of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia (LBD) -- a type of dementia, according to a study. The study focused on patients with Rapid eye movement behaviour disorder -- a sleep disorder where individuals physically act out their dreams during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. "Normally, when we're asleep and dreaming, our muscles are paralysed, but around age 50, some people become very agitated during sleep and start punching, kicking and screaming," said Shady Rahayel, a medical professor at Université de Montréal in Canada. Unlike sleepwalking, which occurs during slow-wave sleep, RBD occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, he added, and it affects people of middle age. In the study, published in the journal eBioMedicine, the researchers said that nearly 90 per cent of people with the disorder will go on to develop either Parkinson's disease or LBD. "RBD is an early warning sign that certain mechanisms in the brain are no longer working as they should," said the team. "The people with RBD who come to see us are in good health... but of those who subsequently develop a disease, half will have Parkinson's and the other half LBD." Rahayel explained that with LBD, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's, "patients are no longer able to function in everyday life". In addition to dementia, "they will have Parkinson's-like symptoms, vivid visual hallucinations, fluctuating attention and other symptoms." For the study, the team used data from 1,276 MRI scans of people at risk of, or with, Parkinson's disease or LBD, and also of healthy people. Using machine learning and computational models, the researchers identified two trajectories of brain atrophy progression. LBD seems to be associated with brain atrophy that begins in the cortex and then spreads to the interior of the brain, while in Parkinson's the atrophy progresses from the interior to the exterior of the brain. The team next aims to investigate the factors that lead to this deterioration in the cortex, such as vascular lesions, the effects of drugs, and of lifestyle choices. "Now that we have identified these new progression patterns, our goal is to be able to determine from an MRI whether a person has one of them so that we can provide the best possible care," said Rahayel.
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First Post
22-04-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Anti-Pakistan protests erupt in Jammu after deadly Pahalgam terror attack
Anti-Pakistan protests were held in Jammu city following the terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 tourists were killed, with protestors demanding an operation to flush out terrorists from Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near Kashmir's Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon, killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in what is the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019. read more Anti-Pakistan protests broke out in Jammu city following the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that reportedly killed 28 people, mostly tourists. Protesters, led by Rashtriya Bajrang Dal (RBD) president Rakesh Kumar called for an operation to flush out terrorists from Jammu and Kashmir. The attack, which happened at a popular meadow near Pahalgam, is the deadliest in the region since the 2019 Pulwama strike. Authorities confirmed that 26 of the victims were dead, including two foreigners and two locals. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The 26 dead included two foreigners and two locals, a high-ranking official said without getting into the details. Led by it president Rakesh Kumar, Rashtriya Bajrang Dal (RBD) took out a protest march in Jammu city against the attack. They raised slogans against Pakistan and burnt its flag. Kumar condemned the attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, terming it a 'targeted killing of Hindus.' 'This attack took place just ahead of the Amarnath Yatra. Registration for the yatra has only recently begun, and this act is clearly aimed at creating a fear among the Hindu pilgrims,' Kumar told reporters here. 'Survivors say the terrorists asked for the identity of the victims before killing them, which clearly indicates a targeted assault,' he said. Another protest was held by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in the Muthi area of the city, demanding stern action to eliminate terrorists responsible for the act. They raised slogans against Pakistan and terrorists. Protests were also held in J-K's Doda district. With inputs from agencies
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A little-understood sleep disorder affects millions and has clear links to dementia
A little-known and poorly understood sleep disorder that occurs during the rapid eye movement, or REM, stage of sleep has been garnering attention for its role in foreshadowing neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. The disorder, known as REM sleep behavior disorder, or RBD in the medical field, affects around 1% of the general population worldwide and about 2% of adults over 65. The Conversation talked with Anelyssa D'Abreu, a neurologist who specializes in geriatric neurology, to explain what researchers know about the condition's links to dementia. Every night, you go through four to five sleep cycles. Each cycle, lasting about 90 to 110 minutes, has four stages. That fourth stage is REM sleep. REM sleep only comprises 20% to 25% of total sleep, but its proportion increases throughout the night. During REM sleep, your brain rhythms are similar to when you are awake, your muscles lose tone so you are unable to move, and your eyes, while closed, move quickly. This stage is often accompanied by muscle twitches and fluctuations in your respiratory rate and blood pressure. But someone with REM sleep behavior disorder will act out their dreams. For reasons that are poorly understood, the dream content is usually violent – patients report being chased, or defending themselves, and as they sleep they shout, moan, scream, kick, punch and thrash about. Injuries often result from these incidents; patients may fall from bed or accidentally harm a partner. Some 60% of patients and 20% of bed partners of people with this disorder sustain an injury during sleep. Appropriate testing, including a sleep study, are needed to determine if a patient has REM sleep behavior disorder, as opposed to another disorder, such as obstructive sleep apnea. This is a disorder in which breathing is interrupted during sleep. REM sleep behavior disorder can occur at any age, but symptoms usually start with people in their 40s and 50s. For those younger than 40, antidepressants are the most common cause of REM sleep behavior disorder; in these younger patients, it affects biological males and females about equally, but past age 50, it's more common in biological males. The disease mechanism is not well understood. In some cases of REM sleep behavior disorder, a clear cause cannot be identified. In other cases, the disorder may be caused by something specific, such as obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, psychiatric disorders, use of antidepressants, autoimmune disorders and brain lesions, which are areas of damaged brain tissue. In both situations, REM sleep behavior disorder may be associated with synucleinopathies, a group of neurodegenerative disorders in which aggregates of the protein α-synuclein accumulate in brain cells. The most common of these neurodegenerative disorders is Parkinson's disease. Others are dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy and pure autonomic failure. REM sleep behavior disorder may precede these diseases or occur at any time during the disease process. REM sleep behavior disorder may be the first symptom of Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies. It is observed in 25% to 58% of patients diagnosed with Parkinson's, 70% to 80% of patients with dementia with Lewy bodies and 90% to 100% of those with multiple system atrophy. In a long-term study of 1,280 patients with REM sleep behavior disorder who didn't have parkinsonism – an umbrella term that refers to brain conditions, including Parkinson's disease, that cause slowed movements, stiffness and tremors – or dementia, researchers followed participants to find out how many would develop these disorders. After 12 years, 73.5% of those with REM sleep behavior disorder had developed a related neurodegenerative disorder. Some of the factors that independently increased the risk of developing a neurodegenerative disorder were the presence of irregular motor symptoms, abnormal dopamine levels, loss of sense of smell, cognitive impairment, abnormal color vision, erectile dysfunction, constipation and older age. REM sleep behavior disorder may also be observed in other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease, but at much lower rates. The association is also not as strong as that observed in the synucleinopathies. For most neurodegenerative disorders, there is a phase that may last for decades in which brain changes are taking place but the patient either remains asymptomatic or develops symptoms without the full expression of the disease. RBD, in that scenario, is an early sign of those disorders. This provides an opportunity to study how the disease progresses in the brain and to develop therapies that could either slow this process or prevent it from happening. At this time, there are no approved therapies to prevent the onset of these neurodegenerative diseases in those with REM sleep behavior disorder. There are, however, medications such as melatonin and clonazepam that may improve the symptoms. We also recommend measures to avoid injury, such as removing breakable objects from the room, protecting windows and padding floors. Patients who are affected by REM sleep behavior disorder may choose to participate in research. Proper treatment of the disease can help prevent injury and improve quality of life. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Anelyssa D'Abreu, University of Virginia Read more: Rapid eye movements in sleeping mice match where they are looking in their dreams, new research finds Sleep paralysis: why modern horror is fascinated by old superstitions of troubled slumbers Here's how a new AI tool may predict early signs of Parkinson's disease Anelyssa D'Abreu receives funding from ARDRAF
