Parkinson's Disease and Sleep

Restorative sleep is vital for optimal physical, mental, and emotional health. Sleep problems affect a large proportion of the general population and take many forms, so the consequences of poor sleep are widespread. In particular, sleep disturbances affect more than 75 percent of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). And according to our expert guest, Dr. Aleksandr Videnovic of Harvard Medical School and Director of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence, these problems are under reported by patients and under diagnosed by health professionals. The causes of sleep problems include recurrent symptoms of PD, disordered breathing, REM sleep behavior disorder, restless leg syndrome, and periodic limb movement disorder, among other factors and may be multifactorial. In this episode, Dr. Videnovic addresses some of the most frequent sleep problems – insomnia, REM sleep behavior disorder, and daytime sleepiness.