Parkinson's Disease Support Group
Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder often characterized by muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement, and in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. The primary symptoms of Parkinsons are due to excessive muscle contraction, normally caused by the insufficient formation and action of dopamine, which is produced in the dopaminergic neurons of the...
Good morning everyone.
Long time lurker, first time poster (in this group)...I signed up for this group a while back, as a caretaker.
I did a search, and saw nothing listed on this topic, so...
Has anyone experienced, or had to deal with, sleepwalking? I'm not sure I should be worried, as it has been an isolated incident that we're aware of, so far...But I'm not going to say I'm not worried about it. As it just happened this morning, and I'm at work with minimal time to really look into it so far, I see it can just be a rare side effect from a number of things.
Thanks for any info or time you might invest into this.
Long time lurker, first time poster (in this group)...I signed up for this group a while back, as a caretaker.
I did a search, and saw nothing listed on this topic, so...
Has anyone experienced, or had to deal with, sleepwalking? I'm not sure I should be worried, as it has been an isolated incident that we're aware of, so far...But I'm not going to say I'm not worried about it. As it just happened this morning, and I'm at work with minimal time to really look into it so far, I see it can just be a rare side effect from a number of things.
Thanks for any info or time you might invest into this.
The following link has information that does show a percentage of PD patients have the symptom of Sleepwalking.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/705177
Sleepwalking can also be caused by certain medications like Beta-blockers.
Hope this helps. Look forward to more posts from you in the future. It is great to have questions like this. Many of us are looking to learn more about this illness and the many issues that it can be a part of.
As a "Caregiver" please remember to take care of yourself also and pace yourself. I was a Caregiver before I became injured in my last car wreck and this wreck caused the PD to go into an acceleration mode. Sometimes I feel like I am doing a crash coarse on this illness.
Just a thought regarding safety. It might be worth it to put bolt locks on the exterior doors, that can only be opened with a key. Then keep the key on yourself so you are ready for an emergency. I had to do this for a relative that I was caring for. Better safe than sorry.
Best wishes
-RJ
Here is the article:
July 1, 2009 (Milan, Italy) Patients may have symptoms years before they experience the motor manifestations of Parkinson's disease, report experts. Presenting here at the 19th Meeting of the European Neurological Society, researchers emphasized that an array of seemingly unrelated symptoms may actually be the first signs of Parkinson's.
"Evidence is accumulating from clinical, neuroimaging, and pathological studies that olfactory dysfunction, dysautonomia, or mood and sleep disorders can occur years and perhaps even decades before the classical motor symptoms arise," Eduardo Tolosa, MD, from the University of Barcelona, in Spain, said at the meeting.
"These data suggest that, at least in some cases, Parkinson's disease may start in the lower brain stem, olfactory structures, or the peripheral autonomic plexuses, reaching the substantia nigra only later," he noted. "It is unclear when these structures become involved in the neurodegenerative process."
Although Parkinsons disease is most common in elderly patients, some may be affected in their 40s or even younger. Claudio Bassetti, MD, from the University Hospital of Zurich, in Switzerland, voiced concern about doctors relying too heavily on dopaminergic medications.
"We increasingly notice that some patients with Parkinson's disease and restless-legs syndrome take more dopamine than they really need to," he said. "The involvement of the dopamine system in reward mechanisms and eventually in the neurobiology of addiction may explain this overuse."
Dr. Bassetti and his research team studied sleep walking in patients with Parkinson's disease. Using a questionnaire, they asked 417 patients about their sleep quality and sleep disorders.
Sleep Walking, Compulsive Behavior, and Suicide
Dr. Bassetti's group found that patients with Parkinson's disease were more likely to sleep walk and experience other sleep disturbances. In all, 9% of patients reported sleep walking. These patients had significantly longer disease duration (P = .035) and were more likely to have hallucinations and nightmares (P = .004 and P = .003).
Sleep walking, the researchers suggest, appears to be a late manifestation of Parkinson's disease.
According to presenters, there is also increasing awareness about compulsive behavior in some patients with Parkinson's disease. "These impulse-control disorders such as pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive shopping, compulsive eating, or compulsive overuse of dopaminergic drugs can lead to monetary losses or worsen the social handicap of Parkinson's patients," Dr. Bassetti added in a news release.
"It is necessary to consider pathological gambling in young Parkinson's disease patients with regard to their treatment and possible clinical and sociological outcomes," conclude researchers from the University of Brno, in the Czech Republic.
Their small study compared 20 patients and 20 controls using a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task. They found that Parkinson's patients had significantly lower scores and were more likely to make bad choices.
Another study, from the Institute of Neurology in Belgrade, Serbia, explored the risk for suicide in patients with Parkinson's disease. Investigators followed 102 patients for 8 years. They found that suicide-specific mortality was more than 5 times higher (95% CI, 2.1 12.7). In all, almost a quarter of the Parkinson's patients either died or experienced suicidal ideation, which may significantly influence quality of life.
"Nonmotor manifestations of Parkinson's disease are an important new challenge and increasingly recognized as an important feature in the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder," Dr. Bassetti said.
The researchers have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
19th Meeting of the European Neurological Society: Abstracts 17, O38, O39, P408. Presented June 20-24, 2009.