Sleep walking towards dementia
Sleeping behaviour disorders – including sleep walking or talking – could be a forewarning of dementia in later life, according to research by the Mayo Clinic of Arizona.
The characteristics are known as dream-enactment behaviour (DEB) which is evident in patients who scream, yell, talk or move their arms and legs around during sleep in ways that act out their dreams.
However many normal people talk in their sleep, and the Clinic cautioned that not all sleep walking or talking was likely to foretell dementia. The research has shown that while DEB in young people wasn’t linked to dementia, it can be for those older than 50.
The Mayo Clinic research provided an early warning regarding potential dementia but at this stage there was no intervention remedy which would stop things getting worse.
