Joined: 12/6/2011
Posts: 3326
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(Source: Huffington Post) - Acting out dreams could be a sign of the second most common kind of dementia among the elderly.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic found that when a man has a risk factor for dementia with Lewy bodies (such as hallucinations or cognitive problems) in addition to REM sleep behavior disorder, he is five times more likely to have the dementia. REM sleep behavior disorder is when the brain is in REM sleep but the body acts out dreams in the form of kicking, jumping, etc.
"While it is, of course, true that not everyone who has this sleep disorder develops dementia with Lewy bodies, as many as 75 to 80 percent of men with dementia with Lewy bodies in our Mayo database did experience REM sleep behavior disorder. So it is a very powerful marker for the disease," study researcher Melissa Murray, a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic, said in a statement.
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