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Showing papers on "Sleep disorder published in 1990"


Journal Article
TL;DR: The primary conclusion is that many adolescents do not get enough sleep, and the consequences of the chronic pattern of insufficient sleep are daytime sleepiness, vulnerability to catastrophic accidents, mood and behavior problems, increased vulnerability to drugs and alcohol, and development of major disorders of the sleep/wake cycle.
Abstract: Most studies of adolescent sleep habits show a pattern of decreasing total sleep time, a tendency to delay the timing of sleep, and an increased level of daytime sleepiness. Laboratory tests have shown that adolescents do not have a decreased need for sleep but probably need more sleep than prepubertally. A number of factors affect the development of adolescent sleep patterns. Puberty itself imposes a burden of increased daytime sleepiness with no change in nocturnal sleep. Parental involvement in setting bedtimes wanes, though they become increasingly involved in waking teenagers in the mornings. Curfews and school schedules also affect adolescent sleep patterns, seen most commonly as imposing earlier rise times as the school day begins earlier during the adolescent years. Part-time employment has a significant impact on the sleep patterns of teenagers: those who work more than 20 h each week sleep less, go to bed later, are more sleepy, and drink more caffeine and alcohol. Development of circadian rhythms may also play a role in the phase delay teenagers commonly experience. The primary conclusion is that many adolescents do not get enough sleep. The consequences of the chronic pattern of insufficient sleep are daytime sleepiness, vulnerability to catastrophic accidents, mood and behavior problems, increased vulnerability to drugs and alcohol, and development of major disorders of the sleep/wake cycle. Educational programs hold the promise of improving teenagers' sleep patterns through informing youngsters, parents, and pediatricians about proper sleep hygiene and the risks of poor sleep habits.

553 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1990-Chest
TL;DR: The effect of tracheostomy, independent of age, BMI, and AI at entry, was highly significant, thus emphasizing the need for earlier treatment of the sleep-related abnormal breathing.

462 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: After adenotonsillectomy, the abnormal hypoxaemia, excessive sleep disturbance, and multiple symptoms almost resolved; a growth spurt also occurred.

391 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that increasing ventilatory effort may be the stimulus to arousal from sleep independent of the source of this rising drive to breathe.
Abstract: Arousal from sleep in response to asphyxia can be a lifesaving event. However, the mechanisms responsible for this important arousal response are uncertain. A unifying hypothesis is that arousal results from the increased respiratory effort that occurs as a result of ventilatory stimulation. If this is true, the magnitude of this effort during the breaths immediately preceding arousal from sleep should be similar regardless of the stimulus. Therefore, the negative inspiratory pleural pressure during the breaths preceding arousal would be similar, whether stimulated by added inspiratory resistive load, hypoxia, or hypercapnia. To test this hypothesis, we studied eight young, healthy men during full-night sleep studies. We measured their electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), electrooculography (EOG), inspired ventilation (VI), end tidal PCO2 (PetCO2), O2 saturation, and esophageal pressure (esophageal balloon) while inducing arousal from non-REM sleep using (1) a 30-cm H2O/L/s added resistiv...

386 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that sleep does not have a direct effect on morning motor function, and Alterations in morning motor symptomatology probably represent a manifestation of motor fluctuations.
Abstract: It has been suggested that sleep may have a positive effect on morning motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). We examined this possibility and also looked at common sleep disorders in PD. Seventy-eight PD patients and 43 normal elderly subjects answered a questionnaire. Of the PD patients, 43.6% reported improved motor symptoms in the morning, 37.2% worse, and 19.2% unchanged compared to the rest of the day. No difference was found between morning-better and -worse groups with respect to age, duration or stage of PD; antiparkinsonian medications utilized, and predominant motor symptoms. However, the morning-same group had a shorter duration of PD and less severe disease and required fewer dopaminergic medications. Sleep disorders were seen with equal frequency in the morning-better and -worse groups. Our results suggest that sleep does not have a direct effect on morning motor function. Alterations in morning motor symptomatology probably represent a manifestation of motor fluctuations. Sleep fragmentation and spontaneous daytime dozing occurred much more frequently in PD patients than controls. In addition, nocturnal vocalizations and daytime hallucinations occurred only in the PD group.

360 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that anesthesia with upper abdominal surgery leads to a severe disruption of nocturnal sleep followed by the release of highly intense REM sleep about the middle of the first postoperative week.
Abstract: Characteristics of nocturnal sleep were investigated in six patients after anesthesia and cholecystectomy and in another six after anesthesia and gastroplasty. All night polysomnographic recordings were obtained while each patient slept in a private surgical ward room through two nights before and five or six nights after operation. Anesthesia included thiopental, N2O, isoflurane, and fentanyl. Postoperative analgesia was provided with parenteral morphine. Other aspects of care were routine. Nocturnal sleep was markedly disturbed after both surgical procedures. Throughout the operative night and subsequent one or two nights, sleep was highly fragmented with the usual recurring cycles of sleep stages completely disrupted. Slow wave sleep was suppressed and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep virtually eliminated. During the following 2-4 nights, as other aspects of sleep recovered, REM sleep reappeared and then increased to greater than the preoperative amount. This increased REM sleep was marked by a heavy density of eye movement activity along with frequent patient reports of unusually distressing dreams or vivid nightmares. It is concluded that anesthesia with upper abdominal surgery leads to a severe disruption of nocturnal sleep followed by the release of highly intense REM sleep about the middle of the first postoperative week.

301 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1990-Chest
TL;DR: The data confirm earlier observations in smaller samples that compliant and noncompliant patients have equally severe sleep apnea and good initial responses to nasal CPAP and that long-term compliance with nasal CP AP may be associated with the severity of daytime hypersomnolence on presentation.

275 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Given the absence of a classic "withdrawal" pattern, "short-term abstinence" may be a more appropriate classification of psychological and physical phenomena experienced by cocaine addicts who initiate abstinence in a controlled environment.
Abstract: • We examined changes over 28 days in mood states, craving for cocaine, and sleep during short-term abstinence reported by 12 male, predominantly intravenous-using, cocaine-addicted subjects residing in a research facility. For comparison, we examined 10 nonaddicted control subjects. There were no significant differences between cocaine addicts and controls regarding demographics and selected DSM-III-R diagnoses other than psychoactive substance use disorder and antisocial personality disorder. There were significantly higher scores of psychiatric symptoms reported by cocaine addicts 1 week before admission. Mood-distress and depression scores recorded at admission and during short-term abstinence were significantly greater than those reported by controls. Addicts' mood-distress scores and craving for cocaine were greatest at admission and decreased gradually and steadily during the 28-day study. There were no significant differences between groups regarding reports of sleep other than difficulty falling asleep and clearheadedness on arising. Although there were significant differences in resting heart rate at admission and over time, there were no significant differences in weight gain or blood pressure. Given the absence of a classic "withdrawal" pattern, "short-term abstinence" may be a more appropriate classification of psychological and physical phenomena experienced by cocaine addicts who initiate abstinence in a controlled environment.

271 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: To evaluate cardiac structure and function as well as blood pressure in the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), 61 male patients and 61 male controls with M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography were investigated.
Abstract: To evaluate cardiac structure and function as well as blood pressure in the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), we investigated 61 male patients and 61 male controls with M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography. All patients had a history of habitual snoring and a diagnosed light to severe

248 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 1990-Sleep
TL;DR: There was no evidence for a decline in the importance of genetic predisposition with age and short-term environmental fluctuations accounted for as much as 30% of the variance, and more stable nonfamilial environmental effects accounted for the remainder.
Abstract: The etiologic role of genotype and environment in sleep pattern (daytime napping, habitual bedtime, and sleep duration) and subjective sleep quality and sleep disturbance was examined using a general population sample of 3,810 adult Australian twin pairs, aged 17-88 years. Genetic differences accounted for at least 33% of the variance in sleep quality and sleep disturbance and 40% of the variance in sleep pattern. There was no evidence for a decline in the importance of genetic predisposition with age. Short-term environmental fluctuations accounted for as much as 30% of the variance, and more stable nonfamilial environmental effects accounted for the remainder. No effect of shared family environment on sleep characteristics was found.

239 citations


01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the epidemiological principles and epidemiological figures of some common sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and chronic lung cancer, and compare them with a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the epidemiological principles and epidemiological figures of some common sleep disorders. Modern applications of epidemiology include the study of chronic diseases, the evaluation of health status and an evaluation of genetic and environmental factors associated with diseases or symptoms in defined populations. Epidemiological studies can be divided into descriptive, analytical, and intervention studies. Classic examples are cross-sectional studies with data collected at a defined moment and retrospective studies that are based on existing medical histories or other collected data. In descriptive studies, distribution is given with computations of statistical significance between different groups of subjects. Analytical or etiological studies allow more inferences to be done than descriptive studies, especially if the study has been prospective in time (longitudinal). Interventions are commonly used in clinical epidemiological research, e.g., to study the effect of a new hypnotic in insomnia, or to study the effect of weight loss in the treatment of sleep apnea. Ideally a randomized controlled trial (RCT) is designed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that while sleep/wake patterns are significantly disturbed in AD, this phenomenon is not diagnostically useful for discrimination of mild stage AD.
Abstract: We examined the ability of sleep/wake measures to discriminate 45 control subjects from 44 mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Sleep fragmentation was observed as indicated by significant increases in time awake (37-52%) and number of awakenings (31-36%) during the night as compared to controls. Further, slow wave sleep (SWS) was significantly reduced (22%) in AD patients relative to controls. These findings are consistent with our earlier observations of increased wakefulness and decreased SWS in mild-moderate, moderate-severe, and severe stage AD patients. However, when we used these sleep/wake stage measures in discriminant analyses to classify the current AD subjects vs control subjects, the analyses failed to confirm our earlier high classification rate (90%). The present groups were discriminated at overall classification rates of only 63-67%. We conclude that while sleep/wake patterns are significantly disturbed in AD, this phenomenon is not diagnostically useful for discrimination of mild stage AD.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Analysis of clinical features of patients presenting with suspected sleep apnea may reduce the need for sleep studies by about one-third yet still lead to the identification of the great majority of patients with abnormal breathing during sleep.
Abstract: We have investigated the ability of a statistical model developed from clinical data and questionnaire responses to predict disturbance of breathing during sleep. Data from 100 consecutive patients referred for sleep study for suspected sleep apnea were used to develop the model using logistic regression analysis. For each subject, the model predicted the probability of having an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) greater than 15; this probability was compared with the AHI measured from sleep study. A probability cutoff point (= 0.15) was decided on that minimized the number of subjects with false-negative predictions. Four terms--apneas observed by bed partner, hypertension, body mass index, and age--were found to contribute significantly to the model with observed apneas being by far the most predictive term of the four (adjusted odds ratio 19.7). When the model was tested to estimate the probability of an AHI greater than 15 for 105 patients from a second group of consecutive patients referred for sleep study, the model correctly classified 33 of 36 patients with a measured AHI greater than 15 (sensitivity = 92%) and 35 of 69 patients with a measured AHI less than or equal to 15(specificity = 51%). This study shows that analysis of clinical features of patients presenting with suspected sleep apnea may reduce the need for sleep studies by about one-third yet still lead to the identification of the great majority of patients with abnormal breathing during sleep.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The symptom of insomnia concerns not only psychiatrists, but other physicians as well, and the BZs are the drugs of choice because of their better margin of safety and lower potential for abuse.
Abstract: INSOMNIA is the most common sleep problem. Like other common conditions, it results from many causes and varies widely in severity and duration from patient to patient. The recent widow, the ruminative worrier, the sleepless patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the melancholic depressive person, and the executive with jet lag all share the condition of insomnia, but the cause of their problem and their therapeutic needs differ. During the past decade, the classification and management of sleep disorders have evolved with clinical experience and the results of basic and clinical research.1 2 3 4 New hypnotic drugs have been introduced into clinical . . .

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that a single pharmacological dose ofMLT exerts a hypnotic effect by accelerating sleep initiation, improving sleep maintenance and altering sleep architecture in a similar manner to anxiolytic sedatives; objective and subjective measures for awakening qualitiy indicate good tolerance of one dose of MLT without hangover problems on the following morning.
Abstract: Melatonin (MLT), a pineal hormone, has some sedative and hypnotic properties. To explore this effect further 20 young, healthy volunteers exposed to artificial insomnia participated in a double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group design study. They slept in a sleep laboratory for several consecutive nights and were polygraphically monitored and subjected to a battery of psychometric tests and standardized self-report questionnaires each morning. One night all subjects received only placebo (21:00 hours) and on a second night half of them were subjected to placebo and half to MLT. On the later night blood MLT levels were measured. Polygraphic recordings revealed that MLT at bedtime decreased the time the subjects were awake before sleep onset (P<0.025), sleep latency (P<0.05), and the number of awakenings during the total sleep period (P<0.025), and increased sleep efficiency (P<0.05). In addition, it decreased sleep stage 1 (P<0.05) and increased sleep stage 2 (P<0.025). On the morning following the treatment most objective and subjective measures for awakening quality showed a trend towards improvement after MLT. One hour after its oral administration, serum MLT rose to a high pharmacological level (25817 pg/ml; median), but individual peak serum MLT levels varied by a factor of 300. From the data collected it is concluded that a single pharmacological dose of MLT exerts a hypnotic effect by accelerating sleep initiation, improving sleep maintenance and altering sleep architecture in a similar manner to anxiolytic sedatives; objective and subjective measures for awakening qualitiy indicate good tolerance of one dose of MLT without hangover problems on the following morning. Oral administration of crystalline MLT, however, results in high interindividual differences in absorption.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Caffeine increased sleep latency (i.e., improved alertness) and auditory vigilance performance compared to placebo and tolerance to the effects of caffeine on sleep latency developed over the four administrations.
Abstract: The alerting effects of caffeine were assessed using a standard physiological measure of daytime sleepiness/alertness, the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT). Healthy young men (n=24) were randomly assigned to receive caffeine 250 mg or placebo administered double blind, at 0900 and 1300 hours on each of 2 days. On the 3rd day both groups received placebo to test for conditioning to the alerting effects of caffeine. Each day sleep latency was measured at 1000, 1200, 1400, and 1600 hours and performance (divided attention at 1030 hours and auditory vigilance at 1430 hours) was assessed. Caffeine increased sleep latency (i.e., improved alertness) and auditory vigilance performance compared to placebo. Tolerance to the effects of caffeine on sleep latency developed over the four administrations. On the conditioning test (day 3) the group receiving caffeine the previous two days was more alert and performed better than the placebo group.

Book
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: Thirty-six chapters cover the physiology of the EEG in sleep, primary and secondary sleep disorders, hypersomnias and relative insomnia, circadian dysfunc, and more.
Abstract: A summary of knowledge in nearly all aspects of the mechanisms, psychology, primary disorders and secondary complications of human sleep states. Thirty-six chapters cover the physiology of the EEG in sleep, primary and secondary sleep disorders, hypersomnias and relative insomnias, circadian dysfunc

Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 1990-Chest
TL;DR: Effective treatment to prevent nocturnal hypoxemia is available for OSA and COPD, with current evidence supporting beneficial effects on survival.

Journal Article
TL;DR: Ten patients with persistent insomnia were randomized in a double-blind design and the effects of 1-mg and 5-mg oral dosages of melatonin on the electroencephalogram-recorded sleep were examined, and overall subjective quality was reported to be improved.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, sleep, mood, and performance responses to acute sleep deprivation in healthy 80-year-olds and 20-yearolds were investigated, and the effects of total sleep loss in the 'old old' (i.e., 80-years old) were found to be more disruptive than for the young.
Abstract: Little is known about sleep and the effects of total sleep loss in the 'old old' (i.e., 80-year-olds). We investigated sleep, mood, and performance responses to acute sleep deprivation in healthy 80-year-olds (n = 10) and 20-year-olds (n = 14). The protocol consisted of three nights of baseline sleep, one night of total sleep deprivation, and two nights of recovery sleep. Mood and vigilance were tested using visual analog scales and a Mackworth clock procedure in the morning and evening of each study day. Daytime sleepiness was measured by five naps on the days following the third and sixth nights. Old subjects had lower sleep efficiency and less delta sleep than young subjects. However, sleep continuity and delta sleep were enhanced in both groups on the first recovery night, indicating that sleep changes in old subjects are at least partially reversible by this procedure. Surprisingly, young subjects had shorter daytime sleep latencies than the old, suggesting a greater unmet sleep need in the former group. Mood and performance were disturbed by sleep loss in both groups, but to a greater extent among the young. This suggests that acute total sleep loss is a more disruptive procedure for the young than for the old.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1990-Headache
TL;DR: The relationship between sleep and headache has been known for over a century as discussed by the authors, and sleep represents the only well documented behavioral state related to the occurrence of some headache syndrome, which is the subject of this clinical review.
Abstract: The relationship between sleep and headache has been known for over a century. Sleep represents the only well documented behavioral state related to the occurrence of some headache syndrome. Liveing in 1873, wrote about the effect of sleep in terminating an attack of headache. Bing also, noted this relationship when he wrote about early morning headaches. Gans reported a decrease in frequency and severity of migraine attacks following selective 'deep-sleep deprivation.' Dreams leading to headache have been reported. Quite obviously, headache also finds a place in the classification of sleep disorders. This very important relationship between sleep and headache is the subject of this clinical review.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Nov 1990-Sleep
TL;DR: It is conjectured that GHB, an endogenous neurochemical, may be a sleep neurotransmitter or neuromodulator, since GHB rapidly induces sleep, and increases sleep continuity and delta sleep without suppressing REM sleep in both normals and narcolepsy patients.
Abstract: The effects of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB: 25 mg/kg h.s. and 3 h later) vs. placebo on objectively evaluated nighttime sleep and daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy were evaluated in a double-blind, counterbalanced crossover design. Twenty narcolepsy patients were given an overnight polysomnogram (PSG), followed by a daytime multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) at baseline and on the 1st and 29th days of GHB and placebo treatment. The overnight PSGs indicated that the narcolepsy patients had the following significant results during GHB versus placebo treatment: decreased stage 1 (p = 0.012), increased stage 3 (p = 0.008), increased delta (stage 3 and 4 combined) sleep (p = 0.049), fewer stage shifts (p = 0.002), and fewer awakenings (p = 0.006). Minutes of wakefulness were significantly increased only for the last 2 h of the 8 h sleep period on GHB versus placebo (p = 0.019), which is beyond the time of GHB's direct influence. The MSLTs indicated that the narcolepsy patients had a marginally increased sleep latency mean during GHB versus placebo treatment (p = 0.074) and significantly increased total stage 0 (wakefulness) on day 29 of GHB versus day 29 of placebo treatment (p = 0.038). Female narcolepsy patients had significantly fewer naps with REM sleep (REM naps) on day 29 of GHB vs. day 29 of placebo treatment (p = 0.020). The therapeutic effect of GHB in narcolepsy patients, i.e., decreases cataplexy, appears to be due to its improving nocturnal sleep quality, since its half-life is only 1.5 to 2 h. It is conjectured that GHB, an endogenous neurochemical, may be a sleep neurotransmitter or neuromodulator, since GHB rapidly induces sleep, and increases sleep continuity and delta sleep without suppressing REM sleep in both normals and narcolepsy patients.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Frequent morning headaches are a nonspecific symptom in patients with sleep disorders and are not a consistent or reliable symptom of sleep apnea syndrome.
Abstract: • To determine whether morning headaches are a consistent symptom in sleep apnea, we reviewed clinical and polysomnographic data of 304 patients with sleep apnea and compared the findings with normal control subjects and with three other groups of patients seen at a sleep disorders center. Eighteen percent of patients with sleep apnea had frequent morning headaches compared with 21% to 38% in the other groups of patients and 6% of control subjects. In patients with sleep apnea, morning headaches were most common in those with mild predominantly nonobstructive apnea. Polysomnographic characteristics of patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea did not significantly differ between patients with frequent headaches and those without such headaches. Frequent morning headaches are a nonspecific symptom in patients with sleep disorders and are not a consistent or reliable symptom of sleep apnea syndrome. (Arch Intern Med.1990;150:1265-1267)

Journal Article
TL;DR: The association between end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and sleep apnea syndrome remains highly significant, but seems not to be acutely altered by conventional hemodialysis treatment.
Abstract: A high prevalence of sleep apnea syndrome has been reported in previous studies of patients with chronic renal failure. The possible effects of chronic hemodialysis on the magnitude and severity of sleep apnea have not yet been clarified. The present study was undertaken to understand this relationship, by examining subjective and objective measures of sleep on nights following hemodialysis compared to those without hemodialysis. Significant sleep apnea was noted in 6 of 11 patients. The percentage of apnea time comprised of obstructive apneas increased significantly on the nights following hemodialysis. No significant differences occurred between these nights in the subjective or EEG measures of sleep, or in the total number of disordered breathing events or level of arterial oxygen desaturation. The association between end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and sleep apnea syndrome remains highly significant, but seems not to be acutely altered by conventional hemodialysis treatment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that the clinical presentation of CSR can be indistinguishable from that of the "traditional" sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and can result in major oxyhemoglobin desaturation and sleep fragmentation.
Abstract: This study reports polysomnographic features of five patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) They were referred for evaluation of presumptive sleep apnea syndrome on the basis of history and physical examination, but were found to have predominantly CSR on all-night sleep study On the initial polysomnographic study, CSR comprised 47 to 86% of all disordered-breathing events Cheyne-Stokes respiration resulted in considerable oxyhemoglobin desaturation (mean baseline saturation was 95 +/- 4 +/- SD, and lowest saturation was 76 +/- 8) More than one-half of all CSR events resulted in awakenings or arousals Evidence of upper airway obstruction was noted in the majority of CSR events in three of five patients Four patients were treated with theophylline; one who refused drug therapy was treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) Comparison of sleep studies before and after therapy showed a significant decrease in the CSR index (29 +/- 11 versus 2 +/- 2) and in the maximal oxyhemoglobin desaturation associated with CSR (13 +/- 5 versus 3 +/- 2), and an improvement in lowest O2 saturation associated with CSR (76 +/- 8 versus 91 +/- 4) Total disruptions in sleep architecture per hour of sleep improved significantly with therapy (46 +/- 21 versus 20 +/- 8) We conclude that the clinical presentation of CSR can be indistinguishable from that of the "traditional" sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome and can result in major oxyhemoglobin desaturation and sleep fragmentation Theophylline results in considerable improvement in the disordered breathing of CSR during sleep

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that drivers with the clinical features of SAS are at increased risk especially for single-car accidents and that the risk seems to vary with the severity of symptoms.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1990-Sleep
TL;DR: Vitamin B12 (VB12) was administered to two patients suffering for many years from different sleep-wake rhythm disorders, one of which was a 15-year-old blind girl suffering from a free-running sleep- wake rhythm (hypernychthemeral syndrome), and after administration of VB12 at the daily doses of 1.5 mg, the man suffering from delayed sleep phase syndrome was improved.
Abstract: Vitamin B12 (VB12) was administered to two patients suffering for many years from different sleep-wake rhythm disorders. One patient was a 15-year-old blind girl suffering from a free-running sleep-wake rhythm (hypernychthemeral syndrome) with a period of about 25 h. In spite of repeated trials to entrain her sleep-wake cycle to the environmental 24-h rhythm, her free-running rhythm persisted for about 13 years. When she was 14 years old, administration of VB12 per os was started at the daily dose of 1.5 mg t.i.d. Shortly thereafter, her sleep-wake rhythm was entrained to the environmental 24-h rhythm, and her 24-h sleep-wake rhythm was maintained while she was on the medication. Within 2 months of the withholding of VB12, her free-running sleep-wake rhythm reappeared. The VB12 level in the serum was within the normal range both before and after treatment. The other patient was a 55-year-old man suffering from delayed sleep phase syndrome since 18 years of age. After administration of VB12 at the daily doses of 1.5 mg, his sleep-wake rhythm disorder was improved. The good therapeutic effect lasted for more than 6 months while he was on the medication.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors evaluated with clinical interviews and polysomnographic examinations 10 adults with the complaint of sleepwalking, often accompanied by violent behavior or self-injury, and found clonazepam effectively suppressed the somnambulism in 5 of 6 patients in whom it was tried.
Abstract: We evaluated with clinical interviews and polysomnographic examinations 10 adults with the complaint of sleepwalking, often accompanied by violent behavior or self-injury. During the polysomnographic studies, 8 patients had 47 distinct somnambulistic episodes. All episodes occurred in non-REM sleep, with 91% occurring in slow-wave sleep. Contrary to previous reports, episodes were not confined to the 1st 3rd of the night. Clinical EEGs were normal in 5 of 6 patients. In the 7 patients tried on 1 or more treatment regimens, clonazepam effectively suppressed the somnambulism in 5 of 6 patients in whom it was tried, carbamazepine in 1 of 3, flurazepam in 2 of 2, and a combination of clonazepam and phenytoin in one.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Those patients with insomnia who did not meet diagnostic criteria for MDE nevertheless had three times as many depressive symptoms, excluding sleep disturbance, as did those patients whodid not experience insomnia prior to their MI.
Abstract: Insomnia is common among patients who subsequently experience an acute myocardial infarction (MI), and is a major symptom of psychiatric depression. The purpose of this study was to determine what proportion of patients reporting insomnia prior to MI have depression. Of 70 patients with a recent MI, 27 (39%) reported having had insomnia for two weeks or longer prior to their MI, 13 of whom (48%) met diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode (MDE). MDE accounted for a significant proportion of the patients reporting insomnia prior to MI (p less than 0.0001). Furthermore, those patients with insomnia who did not meet diagnostic criteria for MDE nevertheless had three times as many depressive symptoms, excluding sleep disturbance, as did those patients who did not experience insomnia prior to their MI (p less than 0.0009). The implications of this finding are discussed, as well as possible explanations for the relationship between insomnia, depression, and subsequent MI.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It appears that reduced slow wave sleep may be related to a neurodevelopmental disorder related to the defect state in schizophrenia, and the pathophysiological significance of the defective REM rebound and the REM sleep abnormalities in schizophrenia remain uncertain.