[REM-Sleep-Behavior Disorder - More Than a Simple Parasomnia]
Carolin Schäfer1,2, Anne-Kathrin Brill3, Marie-Angela Wulf1
1Universitätsklinik für Neurologie, Schlaf-Wach-Epilepsie Zentrum, Inselspital, Universitätsspital, Bern.
Introduction:
Rapid-Eye-Movement (REM) sleep is an essential part of sleep dominating the second half of the night. A disturbance of the phy-siological muscle hypotonia of REM sleep can lead to dream enactment: REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). In the absence of a disease of the central nervous system or provoking factors such as sleep apnea, alcohol consumption or antidepressants, isolated RBD (iRBD) may be present. IRBD is an early stage of alpha-synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multisystem atrophy. Medical history and polysomnography are the most important diagnostic tools. Clonazepam and melatonin are symptomatic treatments used to prevent injury. New technologies enable long-term monitoring of disease progression in iRBD and thus guide the targeted use of future disease-modifying therapies.
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