Lead author of the study, Dr. Ronald B. Postuma, of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, said, "It's basically a disorder where you act out your dreams at night."
"When people who have RBD [REM Sleep Behavior Disorder] dream they are in a fight, which is very common, they will make punching movements," he explained.
Generally people are paralyzed during the dreaming state and thus cannot act out their behaviors; however, a person suffering with RBD is able to act out his dreams due to the loss of muscle atonia. REM sleep behavior disorder is seen most often in men 50 years and above.
Hitting, thrashing or crying out are the known symptoms of some kinds of brain disease, including Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia, which resembles Alzheimer's with features of Parkinson's. The study found that individuals with RBD are 18 percent more likely to develop dementia or Parkinson’s within five years of their diagnosis and 52.4 percent more likely after twelve years.
Dr. Postuma and Dr. Jacques Montplaisir from the Université de Montréal and the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Canada, followed 93 men and women with an average age of 65, all diagnosed with REM sleep behavior disorder for a period of twelve years.
In the end, researchers found that 26 of the patients had developed dementia, 14 patients developed Parkinson's, 7 came down with Lewy body dementia, 4 developed Alzheimer's and one suffered atrophy in multiple brain systems.
"These disorders happen to 1 to 2 percent of the general population in their entire lives, so 50 percent at 12 years is much, much higher," Dr. Postuma said.
The scientists said that the sleep disorders are quite common in today’s modern world due to stress, anxiety, late night television but it does not mean that it will lead to dementia or Parkinson's disease.
The findings appear in the Dec. 24, 2008 online issue of the journal Neurology.
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