![]() ![]() Louis' patients, who enjoys walleye fishing on Minnesota lakes, has type 1 narcolepsy with cataplexy-which means he can have sudden attacks of weakness, especially when experiencing strong emotions. Sleep disorders can disrupt not only nighttime behavior but also activities throughout the day. RBD occurs in 1 to 2 percent of the general population and between 7 and 13 percent of adults age 60 and older. Louis, who's also associate professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic. “We don't have the treatment yet, but we remain hopeful that a safe and effective neuroprotective treatment or intervention will be identified soon, so stay tuned,” adds Dr. ![]() Louis, MD, director of the Sleep Behavior and Neurophysiology Research Lab at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. “Recognizing the link between RBD and future Parkinson's and dementia risk offers a window of opportunity for neuroprotection, so that once RBD is accurately diagnosed, we could treat patients in the short term to control injury risk, and in the long term to stop neurodegeneration of the brain,” says Erik K. In another case, the research finding that REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD)-which causes people to enact their dreams-may be an initial manifestation of various disorders, including Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia, and multiple system atrophy, has driven further studies on RBD and neuroprotective treatments that could arrest or postpone the onset of these disorders. “Once they found out, ‘If I take away your hypocretin, it makes you sleepy,’ there was a new idea of how to make a sleeping pill,” says Rafael Pelayo, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine in California and a sleep specialist at the university's Sleep Medicine Center. The researchers discovered that people with narcolepsy with cataplexy often had low levels of hypocretins (orexins), brain chemicals that sustain alertness and prevent REM from happening at the wrong time. Case in point: Studies in the late 1990s on the causes of narcolepsy with cataplexy-the condition Connor was initially diagnosed with-led to the development of dual orexin receptor agonists, drugs now commonly prescribed to treat insomnia. Research on sleep disorders has led to improvements in treatment for a variety of sleep and neurologic conditions. ![]() “One of the best ways to take care of our brains is by getting quality sleep.” Intriguing Clues The best known is probably insomnia about 10 percent of the general population has chronic insomnia, an inability to fall asleep for multiple nights over a period of months.Īddressing sleep disorders “is paramount to not only protecting the brain down the road but also on a day-to-day basis,” says Daniel Barone, MD, associate medical director of the Weill Cornell Center for Sleep Medicine in New York City and co-author of The Story of Sleep: From A to Zzz (Rowman & Littlefied, 2023). Overall, there are more than 80 sleep disorders, ranging from the mildly annoying to the potentially deadly. Studying rare sleep disorders such as KLS has given scientists insight into why we sleep and how we can do it better. More than two thirds of KLS patients are teenage boys. Specialists believe the condition may be related to malfunctioning of the thalamus and hypothalamus, areas of the brain that govern appetite and sleep. The eventual diagnosis was Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS), a disorder marked by episodes of excessive sleep-up to 20 hours a day. “This is a kid who plays soccer, who loves school, who is very involved in activities-and suddenly he isn't doing any of that.” “Our son was disappearing before our eyes,” says Connor's mother, Sarah Reiff, who lives with her family in Noblesville, IN. He'd sometimes walk in a sleep stupor, physically pushing away family members he encountered. Then, when Connor turned 13, he began sleeping for days at a time, only rising when his parents woke him to eat or use the bathroom. After months of trial and error with different prescriptions, participation in a clinical trial, and countless conflicts with insurance providers, the Reiff family thought they had Connor's sleep issues under control. Illustrations by Jorge ColomboĬonnor Reiff was 11 when doctors determined he had narcolepsy with cataplexy, a rare condition that manifests in extreme daytime sleepiness and the sudden loss of muscle control. What Researchers Are Learning About Brain Health by Studying Sleep Research on sleep disorders and the importance of regular shut-eye has deepened our understanding of the link between sleep and brain health. ![]()
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