Nightmares & Other Parasomnias

Two studies being presented later this morning as posters focus on parasomnias – undesirable physical events or experiences that occur during entry into sleep, within sleep or during arousals from sleep.

One study (#0600) reports that the prevalence of parasomnia symptoms in patients with obstructive sleep apnea is higher than the prevalence rates of individual parasomnias in the general population. Of 537 adult participants with OSA, 51 (9.5 percent) had at least one type of parasomnia complaint; in the general population, the reported prevalence of common parasomnias is 2 percent to 5 percent. The most commonly reported complaints were sleep paralysis, sleep-related hallucinations and symptoms suggestive of REM sleep behavior disorder.

Another study (#1120) found that self-reported nightmares by adult patients seeking emergency psychiatric evaluation uniquely predicted elevated suicidal symptoms. Results indicate that after controlling for depression, the severity of self-reported disturbing dreams and nightmares independently predicted higher scores for suicide ideation as a non-significant trend; insomnia severity scores were no longer associated with suicide ideation after controlling for depression. The results suggest that nightmares may be an acute warning sign and risk factor for suicide.

You can download the SLEEP 2009 abstract supplement as an 11 MB file in PDF format.

Experts Take a Closer Look at REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

In a clinical workshop taking place this morning at SLEEP 2008, co-chairs Dr. Carlos Schenck and Dr. Marco Zucconi, along with a faculty of experts, are presenting, “The Diagnosis of REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in the Sleep Lab: Clinical, Video and Polysomnographic Criteria.”

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a parasomnia that occurs when you act out vivid dreams as you sleep. These dreams are often filled with action and may even be violent, putting both the dreamer and bedpartner at risk of injury.

Schenck is credited with identifying RBD along with Dr. Mark Mahowald, his colleague at the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. They published their findings in the article, “Chronic behavioral disorders of human REM sleep: a new category of parasomnia,” which appeared in the journal Sleep in 1986.

In 2002 Schenck and Mahowald published the article, “REM sleep behavior disorder: clinical, developmental, and neuroscience perspectives 16 years after its formal identification in SLEEP.”

A clinical workshop is a forum for clinicians to review and discuss clinical challenges in sleep medicine, or to present and discuss controversial clinical topics and difficult clinical situations. Over the next three days there will be seven clinical workshops at SLEEP 2008.