Parkinson’s gait disorder related to sleep problems

A polysomnography study found that REM (rapid eye movement) RBD (sleep behavior disorder and Parkinson’s disease are linked and are associated with freezing of gait. Alesksandar Videnovic and team, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA, say, “Previous studies have shown that the severity of tonic RSWA [REM sleep without atonia] in RBD is predictive of the development of PD. Our findings extend and refine this hypothesis by suggesting that the presence of excessive tonic [electromyogram] activity during REM sleep may be predictive of development of a subtype of PD that is dominated by [freezing of gait].” In 10 PD patients, during REM, tonic muscle activity was elevated threefold. In another 10 patients without PD had tonic muscle activity with freezing of gait. Therefore, it averages 30% and 10%, and nearly 8 times in comparison to 10 normal, healthy controls. Their tonic muscle activity was closer to that of 10 patients with RBD, with an average of 38%. The team writes in Neurology, “These findings provide evidence suggesting that the pathophysiologic mechanisms that mediate [freezing of gait] in PD share a common subset of neurodegenerative changes that mediate RSWA in RBD.”