Screaming in the sleep Note Parkinson's

Cries and violent movements while asleep could be signs of Parkinson's

06/11/2012

Cries while sleeping as an indication of impending Parkinson's disease? At the European Neuroscience Congress (ENS) in Prague, experts report on the latest findings in the field of Parkinson's research.

Violent movements or cries while asleep may be harbingers of impending Parkinson's disease, said Professor Claudio Bassetti, director and chief physician of the Bern University Department of Neurology, at the European Neuroscience Congress in Prague. The so-called Schenk syndrome, which is called the uncontrolled movements, could already indicate the neurological disease Parkinson's years in advance, Bassetti continued. In this way, the previously incurable disease can be detected very early in some circumstances.

Disturbed movement inhibition during sleep in Parkinson's patients
As Prof. Bassetti explained, muscle relaxes in healthy people in the REM sleep phase. Her experiences in the dream therefore do not express her physically. This so-called physiological paralysis is disturbed in the case of Schenk syndrome. The inhibition of movement in dream sleep has been lost, which is why sufferers move while dreaming, screaming, kicking or beating, said the expert. The impairment of the movement inhibition is caused by a process in the brain, which is also typical for Parkinson's, further Bassetti. According to the Bern neurologist, many Parkinson's patients suffer from Schenk's syndrome long before the onset of parkinsonian movement disorders. If these indications were correctly interpreted, measures could be taken at an early stage to delay the progression of the disease and significantly improve the quality of life for those affected, said Bassetti.

Parkinson's begins in the nose
The Dresden Neurology Professor Heinz Reichmann explained on his previous day at the European Congress of Neurologists that Parkinson's begins in the nose and so could provide a simple smell test evidence of impending Parkinson's disease. In experiments with mice, the Dresden neurologist had discovered evidence that the development of Parkinson's is first noticeable in the nerve cells of the sense of smell and then spreads further from here. In the nose, an accumulation of so-called Lewy body forms in the early stages of Parkinson's disease, which signals the onset of Parkinson's disease, according to Reichmann. From the nerve cells of the nose, the disease migrates cell by cell towards the stomach and from there via the vagus nerve to the brain, explained the President of the European Neurological Society. According to Prof. Reichmann, the most important symptoms that otherwise indicate Parkinson's disease are constipation, double vision, impotence, poor mood, urinary incontinence, diffuse pain, depression and dementia. Also, a greasy skin and excessive sweating could be a sign of Parkinson's. (Fp)

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Picture: Helga Gross