For most people night is a time of rest and renewal however for many people with parkinson s disease pd night all too. If you have parkinson s and experience poor sleep it s important to talk to your doctor as treating your sleep related symptoms may improve your overall well being.
Parkinson s disease is characterized by the loss of brain cells that control movement.
Sleep disturbance in parkinson s disease. Parkinson s disease has been linked to sleep disorders and sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances are a common non motor symptom of parkinson s disease pd that may cause difficulty falling or staying asleep. Sleep disorders occur commonly in parkinson s disease pd and were initially noted by james parkinson in his original monograph.
This is particularly dangerous for those patients who are still driving operating equipment even kitchen and lawn equipment or other tools or caring for dependents. Johan samanta md director movement disorders research banner good samaritan medical center clinical associate professor neurology university of arizona college of medicine. The brain changes that are part of pd can also cause sleep difficulties and some people have problems sleeping even before movement symptoms develop and pd is diagnosed.
Because parkinson s disease is associated with sleep attacks patients may be suddenly overcome with drowsiness and fall asleep regardless of what they are doing. We identified references for this article by searching pubmed database and google scholar up to 2011 with medical subject headings mesh terms of parkinson disease night time symptoms sleep disorders elderly and. If you are caring for someone with parkinson s these sleep disturbances may lead to an increased risk of depression and stress.
Sleep and night time problems are almost twice as common among carers of people with parkinson s than in the general population. This article will review the epidemiology pathophysiology and management of sleep disturbance in parkinson disease pd. 1 2 sleep related problems in pd can be divided into disturbances of sleep and wakefulness.
It s important to recognize and treat them not only to ensure general health is optimized but also to maximize parkinson s management. A good night s sleep is critical to our health and well being. However for people with parkinson s disease pd sleep becomes even more important as the body needs more time to restore and repair itself.
Sleep problems are a common among those with parkinson s disease pd. Sleep problems nighttime parkinson s issues and how they can be treated. 2 in fact most reports suggest that sleep disturbance depression and lack of independence are.
Recent estimates place the prevalence of sleep disturbance in pd at almost 100. Disturbances of sleep are highly prevalent in parkinson s disease pd affecting up to 88 percent of community dwelling patients 1 furthermore in studies that examine the impact of pd on quality of life qol sleep difficulties are independent and important predictors of poor quality of life.
