The early Parkinson's disease warning sign that can impact sleep before official diagnosis

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder that affects movement, often begins with subtle symptoms. One of the most recognised signs is a slight tremor, usually starting in the hands or fingers.However, according to researchers from the University of Birmingham, one of the earliest indicators of Parkinson's could be frequent bad dreams or nightmares.

The study found that older men who regularly experience disturbing dreams are twice as likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson's later in life.It suggests that those who will develop Parkinson's may start having nightmares a few years before the onset of more noticeable symptoms like tremors, stiffness, and slow movements.

The researchers advise anyone noticing changes in their dream patterns in later life to seek medical advice."While we need to carry out further research in this area, identifying the significance of bad dreams and nightmares could indicate that individuals who experience changes to their dreams in older age – without any obvious trigger – should seek medical advice," said Dr Abidemi Otaiku, the lead author of the study.This approach to using nightmares as an indicator for Parkinson's risk is new, although it has been previously observed that people with Parkinson's tend to have bad dreams more frequently.

Early detection is key, but the study emphasises that there are 'very few' risk indicators for Parkinson's disease, many of which are not specific to the condition or necessitate expensive hospital tests.