[HN Gopher] Acting out dreams predicts Parkinson's and other bra...
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Acting out dreams predicts Parkinson's and other brain diseases
Author : benbreen
Score : 80 points
Date : 2023-01-19 16:23 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.scientificamerican.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.scientificamerican.com)
| blakesterz wrote:
| Funny this has been known for a long time!
| "Descriptions of dream enactment by people with Parkinson's are
| as old as recognition of the disease itself. In James Parkinson's
| original description, "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy," published
| in 1817, he wrote: "Tremulous motions of the limbs occur during
| sleep, and augment until they awaken the patient, and frequently
| with much agitation and alarm." But despite similar reports over
| the next two centuries, the connection between dreams and disease
| remained obscure--so much so that Alda had to convince his
| neurologist to do a brain scan for Parkinson's after he read
| about the link in a 2015 news article."
| mythhouse wrote:
| This isn't just recognition of disease though. Its a prediction
| that you might get that disease in future.
|
| > Apart from being hazardous to dreamers and their partners,
| RBD may foreshadow neurodegenerative disease, primarily
| synucleinopathies--conditions in which the protein a-synuclein
| (or alpha-synuclein) forms toxic clumps in the brain.
| dathinab wrote:
| > other underlying condition
|
| or trauma in combination with anxiety disorder causing you to
| have panic attacks in the night
| Nathanael_M wrote:
| Aren't these separate things? They seem to be referencing a
| distinct acting out of specific motions in dreams. Something
| separate from an unstructured reaction to stress/terror etc.
| ddmma wrote:
| Started to log as many dreams I can recall mornings on driary.com
| - wish to index dreams or other possible imagery patterns.
|
| I think durring sleep brain has lot of reparing work to do,
| similar to mechanic in garage for night shift.
| JPLeRouzic wrote:
| People who have RBD should not despair, not only there are many
| ongoing clinical trials, but there are very interesting research
| done to reverse Parkinson, such as this one:
|
| https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/Fulltext/2020/0806...
| blueridge wrote:
| Peter Attia had a recent episode about neurodegenerative disease,
| they talk about dream enactment quite a bit, great discussion:
|
| https://peterattiamd.com/kellyannniotis/
| fithisux wrote:
| Predicts yes, but does it offer any cure? It is terrible for a
| person to have his abilities being reduced at a rate and knowing
| each tomorrow is worse than today. People do not seem to care
| though.
| nobodyandproud wrote:
| Preparation, in absence of treatment, is still extremely
| valuable.
|
| Financials, lifestyle and logistics, helpers for the family,
| your loved ones mentally and emotionally steeling themselves.
|
| Every responsible adult does this, by the way; the rest leave a
| mess for their family to handle when they pass away (old age,
| accident, etc.).
|
| But great preparation requires knowing what's coming or likely
| to come, as we generally have limited time and resources.
| bfgoodrich wrote:
| [dead]
| mwint wrote:
| Headline is a bit unclear, I initially thought it was talking
| about being awake and showing other people what happened in your
| dream, like a theatre production. Turns out, it's just (what non
| scientists would see as) sleepwalking.
| willmw101 wrote:
| >Turns out, it's just sleepwalking
|
| The piece explicitly states that it is not sleepwalking:
|
| >Not all nocturnal behaviors are RBD. Sleepwalking and sleep
| talking, which occur more often during childhood and
| adolescence, take place during non-REM sleep. This difference
| is clearly distinguishable in a sleep laboratory, where
| clinicians can monitor stages of sleep to see when a person
| moves.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| I think laypeople would not make this distinction.
| mwint wrote:
| Thanks, clarified.
| kolanos wrote:
| Don't dreams occur during REM sleep? I am a frequent sleep
| walker and the times I've been awoken by someone else I was
| in mid-dream.
| cerol wrote:
| Funny this is on HN's front page, given that only a couple of
| days ago I had this dream I got stuck in an elevator and started
| to smash the doors trying to get out. I woke up and I had just
| smashed the bedroom window with my bare hands.
|
| I have pretty bad sleep habits, but never had that happened to me
| (AFAIK, given that I live on my own). That day I was sleep-
| deprived (3 hours of sleep on the night before), and had
| exercised a lot (I'm an athlete).
|
| I'm only 27, but I'm still a bit freaked out about the
| possibility of this being an early sign of some neurodegenerative
| disease.
| metadat wrote:
| Yikes, were you okay when you snapped out of it? Glass (and
| ceramic) shards are remarkably sharp and dangerous.
|
| Ask me how I know..
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| These phenomena aren't completely absent in healthy people from
| time to time.
|
| If it becomes a pattern you should check it out. If it happens
| from time to time over your life it's not a big deal.
|
| These phenomena are also common in young children as they grow
| up, too.
|
| > That day I was sleep-deprived (3 hours of sleep on the night
| before), and had exercised a lot (I'm an athlete).
|
| This is the obvious explanation. I know it likely goes without
| saying, but 3 hours of sleep is a major risk factor for health
| problems, including degenerative neurological disease if
| sustained. If you're experiencing weird sleep/wake relayed
| symptoms after only sleeping 3 hours, the obvious explanation
| is sleep deprivation. Don't even consider other explanations
| until you get back to a healthy sleep habit, which is hopefully
| soon.
|
| Also, I'm sure you know this, but 3 hours of sleep is going to
| offset much or perhaps all of the benefit of intense exercise.
| Skip the gym and get some sleep if you must. It will be a net
| win.
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| It should also be noted that this can be a side effect of some
| drugs and even supplements. If this happens to you and you're
| taking medication of any sort, let your doctor sort it out. Don't
| assume you have a neurodegenerative disease.
| jmckib wrote:
| It can also be a symptom of withdrawal from alcohol and other
| drugs.
| titan_twelve wrote:
| I didn't know about this. Would you be able to link any
| relevant articles or studies for interested parties?
| andrewl wrote:
| Do you know what supplements have this as a side effect?
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| Supplements in general are very poorly studied relative to
| prescription drugs. Supplements have also become more
| powerful in recent years as vendors start producing more
| potent extracts or even synthesizing what are basically
| unregulated pharmaceuticals. Some of the supplements on the
| market in the US are even derived from prescription drugs in
| other countries which haven't been approved here as
| medications.
|
| So it's impossible to say. If you start experiencing
| troubling symptoms, it's wise to discontinue supplements for
| a while to check if the symptoms persist.
|
| A good rule of thumb is that if it makes you feel energetic
| or relaxed, there's a high likelihood that it could be
| associated with sleep disturbance. A lot of the problems
| coming out of supplement enthusiasts are related to rebound
| from the supplements when they wear off, so keep that in mind
| too. What goes up must come down.
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