Being male and over 50 years old — however, more women are now being diagnosed with the disorder, especially under age 50, and young adults and children can develop the disorder, usually in association with narcolepsy, antidepressant use or brain tumors.
REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) most commonly affects people over the age of 50. The average age of onset is 61 years. It can also affect children and younger adults, but this is rare.
(See 'Dream-enactment behaviors' above.) Prevalence – The prevalence of RBD is estimated at 0.5 to 1.25 percent in the general population, with higher frequencies among older adults and those with Parkinson disease (PD), multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies.
REM sleep behavior disorder often coexists with other neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia, multiple system atrophy, narcolepsy, or stroke. In many cases, REM sleep behavior disorder precedes the development of one of these neurodegenerative diseases.
Diagnostic criteria
You have repeated times of arousal during sleep where you talk, make noises or perform complex motor behaviors, such as punching, kicking or running movements that often relate to the content of your dreams. You recall dreams associated with these movements or sounds.
These studies demonstrate a strong link between having RBD and later being diagnosed with Parkinson's or related conditions such as dementia with Lewy bodies or multiple system atrophy, which have PD symptoms. Not everyone with RBD goes on to develop PD, though.
Symptoms of RBD may be gradual or sudden. Episodes may occur from time to time, or several times in one night. Symptoms usually worsen over time.
Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) has rarely been associated with a psychiatric condition. We report a series of cases of RBD presenting as psychiatric disorders.
Treatment. The treatment of RBD falls into two categories: pharmacological and behavioral. Unfortunately, as no cure for the disorder exists, management remains symptomatic, with highest priority placed on controlling the extreme and potentially injurious motor behaviors.
Summary: The first and most distinct consequence of daily mild stress is an increase in rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, a new study reports. The research also demonstrated that this increase is associated with genes involved in cell death and survival.
RBD has been associated with antidepressant medications such as tricyclic antidepressants, fluoxetine, venlafaxine, and MAO inhibitors. Although REM behavior disorder has been associated with the use of serotonergic reuptake inhibitors, there are actually very few documented cases in the literature.
More than 80 percent of people with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), as the condition is known, go on to develop certain neurodegenerative maladies such as Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy or dementia with Lewy bodies, studies have found.
PTSD has been linked to REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD)4,5 in the medical literature, currently with only theoretical support as to why. Additionally, PTSD can be associated with a more recently described condition known as trauma-associated sleep disorder (TASD),6–8 which shares diagnostic criteria for RBD.
Conclusion: We found increased odds of proxy-reported family history of presumed RBD among individuals with confirmed iRBD. This suggests the possibility of a genetic contribution to RBD.
Discovered in 1982, RBD is a "parasomnia," loosely described as abnormal behavior during sleep, like sleepwalking and sleep terrors. As Poma would learn, RBD is often a warning sign of other serious brain troubles to come. About half of people diagnosed with RBD will develop Parkinson's disease within a decade.
Objective. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) has been considered a male-predominant parasomnia, and there is little comparative data on potential differences between males and females. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine and characterize gender difference in RBD.
REM sleep is characterized by relaxed muscles, quick eye movement, irregular breathing, elevated heart rate, and increased brain activity. Most adults need about two hours of REM sleep each night.
Fact: Upon waking, people with RBD can clearly recall the dream details. This myth may be another example of REM and non-REM sleep disorder confusion. People with non-REM disorders cannot remember the dreams connected to their behaviors because there are no associated dreams.
The prognosis of RBD depends on its etiology. In idiopathic cases, the symptoms are controlled with medications. In secondary cases, the prognosis depends on the underlying primary disease. No deaths have been reported in idiopathic cases of RBD; however, patients and bed partners may experience serious injury.
Onset of symptoms varies widely, although most develop symptoms in the 40-70 age range. Those with RBD evolving before age 40 typically have narcolepsy (RBD and narcolepsy often coexist), although some whose RBD begins early in life can evolve into a neurodegenerative disorder decades later.
Taking antidepressants for depression, having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or anxiety diagnosed by a doctor are risk factors for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder.
RBD occurs in approximately 1% of the general population and 2% in older people. RBD is more prevalent in elderly males than females, with a male to female ratio of 9 to 1. Approximately 80–89% of people who have RBD are elderly men.
Causes of “secondary” RBD, especially in younger individuals, include parkinsonism, narcolepsy, or the use of antidepressant medications. The prevalence of RBD in narcolepsy has been reported to be as high as 36%. [5] Antidepressant medications can precipitate RBD-type symptoms in up to 6% of cases [9].
Disorders of NREM sleep arousal, rhythmic movement disorder, temporal and frontal nocturnal epileptic seizures, severe nocturnal hypoglycemia-related episodes, and psychogenic disorders may mimic RBD.
Some studies reported specific anatomical regions related with RBD, including the dysfunction of a network among the midbrain and pontine tegmentum, the locus subcoeruleus, the medullary magnocellular reticular formation, and focal lesions of the pontine or mesencephalic tegmentum [4, 5].