“I used to laugh about it and call it ‘The Wes Show,'” said Eileen Mills, 49, of Taos, N.M.
But you don’t find it funny anymore.
Contemporary artist Wes Mills at work Whitney And MoMA, more than a year still could not hold a lead. The tremors started on one side of the body and now affect both sides. In January, at the age of 63, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers have found that the performance of dreams can indicate health issues, one of the most common and serious of which is the future onset of Parkinson’s disease. Wes Mills started working on his dream 10 years before his first shake. Other common conditions that lead to dream manipulation are sleep apnea and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Experts say that people who regularly act out their dreams should go to the doctor and get a sleep study done to find out what is the root cause of their behavior.
Why do people make their dreams come true?
When you change into Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when a dream occurs, the body goes into general paralysis to prevent the formation of dreams. But some people – approx 1 percent Those who are over 50 years old – lose this paralysis.
This is known as chronic sleep REM sleep behavior disorderor RBD, often seen in middle-aged men, researchers have found.
“The brainstem has two associated nuclei that produce paralysis that prevents REM sleep, and when one of them or their communication pathway is damaged, this muscle tone is released,” he said. Carlos SchenkPsychiatrist at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center. “Then people can realize their dreams..“
In 1986, Schenck and his colleagues First described RBD Four men and one woman, 60 years or older. Many have a history of injuring themselves or their bed partners during their sleep with stressful behaviors. One patient tried to strangle his wife while dreaming of fighting a bear, and another knocked over furniture while dreaming of being a soccer player. The researchers suggest that RBD is different from sleepwalking, which occurs in non-REM sleep.
The dream fulfillment feature is also documented in Severe sleep apneaBecause it causes people to stop breathing briefly during sleep and become partially awake. Because these pauses in breathing are more common and severe in REM sleep, they can mimic the symptoms of RBD and act on dreams, Schenck said.
About 39 million American adults have it Obstructive sleep apneaAccording to the National Council on Aging, however, it is not known how many of these adults will achieve their dreams.
Similarly, people with PTSD may show signs of healing their trauma. A dream come true. Approximately 70 percent of PTSD patients report sleep disturbances, and up to 70 percent have recurrent nightmares. However, there is no data on the prevalence of PTSD’s dream-enactment behavior, Schenck said.
The relationship between RBD and Parkinson’s
For those with RBD, Parkinson’s is a risk. Amazingly high. People age 50 and older with idiopathic RBD – which occurs suddenly with other health complaints or recent medication changes – 130 times more likely Development of Parkinson’s disease compared to a sleep deprived person.
“There is no such thing. … 80 percent of people with this condition develop Parkinson’s disease 15 to 20 years later. Ronald PostmaDirector of Neurology at McGill University Health Center.
It’s RBD. 10 times better than any other clinical marker – such as abnormal motor test or loss of smell – in predicting the late onset of Parkinson’s disease. RBD is closely related to others synucleinopathiesAlso, a group of diseases that include Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy.
It’s wrong. Alpha-synuclein, protein, is considered to play a role in both idiopathic RBD, and Parkinson’s and other synucleinopathies. When the wrong protein accumulates in the brain into large and toxic tumors, it can disrupt the function of neurons and cause it. Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremors and stiffness.
The brains of people with idiopathic RBD have enough alpha-synuclein to affect REM sleep, but the harmful protein is not widely distributed in the brain, experts say.
more rarely, RBD It can be caused by a stroke, a tumor, or medications such as some antidepressants.
What to do after RBD diagnosis
RBD offers researchers a unique opportunity to study early Parkinson’s disease, its progression, and preventive treatments. for instance, Michelle HuProfessor of Clinical Neuroscience at Oxford University is co-directing a A randomized placebo-controlled trial in patients with RBD investigating whether the drug reduces brain swelling, an early feature of Parkinson’s disease.
“We know that lifestyle changes, such as exercise, can slow the progression of Parkinson’s, so there’s more reason why it might be effective in RBD,” he said. “And what I tell all patients is that we diagnose RBD.”
People with RBD, confirmed by a sleep study, can sign up here. RBD Registry The North American Prodromal Synucleinopathies (NAPS) Consortium has been established to develop treatments that prevent or delay the development of neurodegenerative disorders associated with RBD. Michael J. The Fox Foundation is also looking. People who make their dreams come true To participate in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) to identify biological markers of Parkinson’s risk, onset and progression.
“You have to plan your life accordingly — retirement planning, financial planning, those extended trips with your family,” Schenck said. “I think knowledge is very important in the plan of life, and not just doom and gloom.”
Eileen Mills is currently trying to balance living, walking with her husband and their dog, and making the necessary arrangements based on a recent diagnosis, such as long-term insurance. And Wes Mills still loves to create art. He did things like sculpture and woodworking.
“When it was so clear that the lead still couldn’t hold, he couldn’t even jump. He immediately went into new media,” Eileen said. “Actually, the Wes I know is the most extraordinary person.”
Have a question about human behavior or neuroscience? email BrainMatters@washpost.com And we can answer in a future column.