According to a study published in Neurology, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is an early predictor of Lewy body dementia or Parkinson's disease.
RBD, which mainly affects men aged 50 years and older, is different from insomnia, night terrors, and confusional arousal. Sufferers act out dramatic and violent dreams during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of their sleep by shouting, grunting, kicking and punching.
Those suffering from the condition are at a 50 percent increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disease within 12 years.
Scientists claim the majority of sleep disorders -- sleep talking or walking--, affecting a considerable number of individuals worldwide, are normal and secondary to the stress of modern life and do not necessarily lead to neurological diseases.
They hope their findings would pave the way for identifying individuals at a higher risk of neurological diseases and developing new treatments to either slow or halt the progression of the disease in its early stages.
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