Sleep and circadian dysfunction in Parkinson disease: New perspective and opportunities for treatment

Sleep and circadian dysfunction are common nonmotor symptoms in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Sleep and circadian dysfunction usually have a significant negative impact on quality of life and may also serve as markers to identify patients in the preclinical stage of PD. Sleep disturbances have different types in PD such as insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorders, restless legs syndrome, and sleep-disordered breathing. Because PD has a variety of clinical manifestations, sleep disorders and circadian dysfunction are most easy to be overlooked. The management of sleep and circadian dysfunction in patients with PD is complex as these conditions are heterogeneous; therefore, treatment plans must be individualized and directed at the underlying cause(s). Therefore, screening for and managing sleep and circadian dysfunction are important in clinical practice, and looking for new perspective and opportunities for treatment of them may improve the quality of life of PD patients. Therefore, screening for and managing sleep and circadian dysfunction are important in clinical practice. Looking for new perspective and opportunities for treatment will likely improve the quality of life of PD patients.