Group News

BY Rosemary Black
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, June 24th 2009, 2:11 PM

Getty

For adults with parasomnia of arousal - also known as night terrors - sleep can be anything but peaceful

Related NewsArticlesA new way to treat liver cancer?FREED Act offers hope for those with eating disordersMayor's health care Rx for PrezNYers eye pistachios with caution during salmonella scare

Imagine waking up in bed to find that you’re trying to strangle your partner. It may sound like a nightmare, but in fact it’s an actual sleep disorder that affects some 2 percent of adults. "Grey’s Anatomy" fans got an up-close view of the scary syndrome during last week’s episode, in which Cristina wakes up gasping for breath as Hunt is choking the life out of her.

In real life, sufferers also act out their aggressions in terrifying scenarios. UK model Lucy Clarkson has woken up from a deep sleep twice trying to strangle her boyfriend, and she’s also slapped him across the face and hurled a large Venetian mirror across the room in her sleep, reported the Daily Mail on March 31.

Such violent behavior is typical of night terrors in grownups, though in kids night terrors manifest as nightmares or sleepwalking.
 
“We call it a parasomnia of arousal,” explains Dr. Karl Doghramji, medical director of the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. “What happens is that an individual is in the depths of sleep, has a partial awakening, and begins to enact certain behavior. The person could have violent or unusual behavior, and if they are dreaming of violent things, they may act them out.”

Risk factors for developing the sleep disorder are working a swing shift, sleep deprivation, stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder. (In the case of the "Grey’s Anatomy" doc, Hunt was suffering PTSD after returning from Iraq.)

Such a disorder has varying degrees of severity, says Dr. Shelby Harris, Ph.D., director of the behavioral sleep medicine program at Montefiore Hospital’s Sleep Wake Disorder Center. “It could be mild, where you wake up confused and agitated, or it could involve extreme agitation and fright,” Harris says. “Neurologically, it is almost like you are shifting gears and you get stuck in the gears. It is very frightening for the person observing it.”

It’s recommended that someone exhibiting the symptoms of adult-onset night terror have a sleep study at a sleep center, says Harris, after which a course of treatment will be prescribed.

“There are a lot of different treatments to try,” Harris says. “We usually recommend learning relaxation techniques and avoiding alcohol and stress before going to bed.”

Dr. Svetlana Kogan, who is board-certified in internal medicine and practices at Doctors at Trump Place, says that good sleep hygiene is essential to prevent the disorder.

“We talk about diet with our patients, and we use a variety of vitamins and supplements,” she says. “”We recommend not drinking coffee or water before going to bed, and only using the bed for sleep.”

In certain cases, says Doghramji, sedatives can be helpful. “One of the biggest things is prevention,” he says. “I recommend keeping sharp objects away from the bedside.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/04/01/2009-04-01_night_terrors_can_lead_to_strangling_and_other_violent_sleep_behavior__but_treat.html#ixzz0Q48Nl7r2

Health Terrifying 'Sleep Paralysis' Needs More Attention

By Jim Dawson, Inside Science News Service

posted: 17 August 2009 09:06 am ET

var URI = escape(document.URL); var url = escape('/health/090817-sleep-paralysis.html'); var title = escape("Terrifying+%5C%27Sleep+Paralysis%5C%27+Needs+More+Attention"); var str = 'url='+URI+'&title='+title; var htmlstr = ' del.icio.us'; htmlstr += ' Digg It!'; htmlstr += ' Newsvine'; htmlstr += ' reddit'; function show_print(){ var print_article = new showPrint(); } document.write(''); document.write('livescience:'+document.URL+'')livescience:http://www.livescience.com/health/090817-sleep-paralysis.htmlBuzz up! document.write(htmlstr); del.icio.us Digg It! Newsvine reddit Comments (21) | Recommend (4)

Sleep paralysis can be a terrifying experience for the near 50 percent of people who have had an episode. It's the middle of the night, your eyes are open, dark shapes are gathering around you, something has grabbed your feet, and you can't move. You can't even scream.

A new article by British researchers calls for more attention to be paid in the medical community to sleep paralysis, also known as "night terrors."

"Sleep paralysis is a period of transient, consciously experienced paralysis either when going to sleep or waking up," wrote the researchers from the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. "During an episode the individual is fully conscious, able to open their eyes but aware that it is not possible to move limbs, head or trunk." The person might have trouble breathing and, "the individual might experience hallucinations."

Scientists are aware that the phenomenon is related to stress and involves a disconnect between the brain and the body during the dreaming, or REM, portion of sleep.

"Putting it simply, wakefulness has occurred, but the body and part of the brain is still in REM sleep," the researchers wrote in the journal The Psychologist. "Most urgently, there is a need for greater awareness of the nature of the sleep paralysis amongst the general public and, particularly, amongst health professionals in order to minimize the anxiety and distress that often results from such attacks."