Onset of Frequent Nightmares a Very Early Sign of Parkinson's?
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Onset of nightmares or distressing dreams in older adults may be a very early sign of Parkinson's disease (PD), new research suggests. Investigators analyzed 12-year follow-up data on more than 3800 older men and found those who reported distressing dreams at baseline had a twofold higher risk for incident PD at the end of the follow-up period. Although frequent distressing dreams were associated with a more than threefold higher risk for PD during the first 5 years after baseline, no further effect was found during the subsequent 7 years.
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@mila Cross-sectional studies have shown that PD is also associated with alterations to the phenomenology of dreaming. This includes changes to the content of normal dreams, such as increased negative emotions, increased physical aggression, and a higher prevalence of animal characters, and the development of rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) or dream enactment behaviors (DEBs)