Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have conducted a groundbreaking study demonstrating how a treatment commonly prescribed for insomnia can effectively mitigate a potentially harmful sleeping disorder. This disorder, known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, causes sufferers to unknowingly act out their dreams while asleep. The study’s findings highlight the potential of a certain sleep medication, called dual orexin receptor antagonist, in addressing this disorder. This evidence sheds light on a previously unexplored treatment option to alleviate the symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder. The research was recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The sleep medication works by blocking the neurotransmitter orexin, which helps maintain wakefulness in the brain. This study is the first to investigate the use of dual orexin receptor antagonists for REM sleep behavior disorder. It is estimated that over 3 million Americans, primarily individuals over the age of 50, are affected by this disorder. Those with REM sleep behavior disorder exhibit physically active dream behaviors during sleep, such as making vocal sounds or sudden, violent movements of the arms and legs. This can potentially result in significant injury to themselves or their bed partners.
The disorder seems to develop due to neurodegeneration and the accumulation of tau protein over time, leading to impaired brain cell function. In the study, researchers administered the dual orexin receptor antagonist twice within a 24-hour period to evaluate its effects on sleep during light and dark phases. They discovered that the medication not only reduced sleep latency and improved sleep quality and duration but also decreased levels of dream enactment.
Lead author Korey Kam, assistant professor of medicine at Icahn Mount Sinai, expressed surprise at the discovery of the association between dream enactment and neurodegeneration. He stated, “We anticipated finding a breakdown of sleep quality with progressive neurodegeneration related to tau accumulation, but the observation of dream enactment was a surprise. It was even more surprising and exciting to observe that a dual orexin receptor antagonist could significantly minimize the dream enactment behaviors.”
The researchers at Mount Sinai hope that these findings will pave the way for future clinical trials on the use of dual orexin receptor antagonists as a treatment for REM sleep behavior disorder in humans. Given that the medication is already FDA-approved and used to treat insomnia, it could potentially offer an accessible and effective solution for individuals with this disorder.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
