10 Facts About REM Sleep Disorder Symptoms, Treatment & Causes

What is REM?

• Rapid Eye Movement sleep is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, characterized by the random rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly.
• The rampage is also known as paradoxical sleep and sometimes desynchronized sleep Because the physiological similarities to waking states include rapid low voltage,
• Decent crony's brain waves and electrical and chemical activity regulating this phase seems to originate in the brain stem, and it's characterized most notably by an abundance of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, combined with a nearly complete absence of monoamine.
• A lot happens in your body while you sleep. When you get your dream, Your cycle between REM and non REM sleep
• REM stands for rapid eye movement. During REM sleep, your eyes move rapidly in a range of directions, but don't send any visual information to your brain. That doesn't happen during non REM sleep.
• First comes non-REM sleep, followed by a shorter period of REM sleep, and then the cycle starts over again. Dreams typically happen during R.E.M. sleep please stop

What Happens During NON-REM Sleep

• Non-REM sleep has three phases. Each stage can take anywhere between five and five minutes, depending on whether you go through all three before entering REM sleep.
  • Stage 1, even when your eyes are closed, you can easily be roused. These stages could last between five and ten minutes.
  • Stage 2 You are in a light sleep stage two. Your body temperature drops, and your heart rate slows. Your body is preparing for restful sleep. 10 to 25 minutes may pass throughout this.
  • Stage 3 is a stage of deep slumber. You are more difficult to awaken at this point. Additionally, you will experience some temporary disorientation if someone wakes you awake.

During the deep stage of  NREM sleep, The body repairs And regrows tissues, builds bones and muscles, and strengthens the immune system.

As you get older, you sleep more lightly and get less deep sleep aging also LinkedIn shorter time spans of sleep. Although study shows you still need as much as when you were younger

 What is REM Sleep?

• REM sleep typically begins 90 minutes after you go to sleep. Usually, the initial REM stage lasts for ten minutes. Your latter REM stages all get longer, with the last one needing to last up to an hour. Your breathing and heart rate pick up.
• Since your brain is more active during REM sleep, you have a vivid dream. REM is crucial because it activates the part of the brain that aids in learning and is linked to an increase in protein production.
• Compared to adults, newborns might spend up to 50% of their sleep time in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage.

How many hours of sleep do you need?

• The amount of sleep per person needs depends on many things, including their age, in general
• Infants aged zero to three months need 14 to 17 hours a day
• Toddlers aged between one and two years need about 11 to 14 hours a day
• Preschool children need 10 to 13 hours a day
• School eight children need 9 to 11 hours a day
• Teenagers need about 8 10 hours each day
• Most adults need 7 to 9 hours, although some people may need as few as six hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep each day.
• Older adults age 65 or older need 7 to 8 hours of sleep each day
• Woman in the first three months of pregnancy often needs several more hours of sleep than usual
• But experts say that if you feel drowsy during the day, even during boring activities, you haven't had enough sleep.

What is REM Disorder?

• Rapid Eye Movement REM sleep behavior disorder is a sleep disorder in which you physically act out to evade, often unpleasant dreams with vocal sounds and sudden, often violent arm and leg movements during REM sleep.
• It is also called a dream enacting behavior.
• You normally don't move during REM sleep, a normal state of sleep that occurs many times during night.
• About 20% of your sleep is spent in REM sleep, the usual time for dreaming which occurs primarily during the second-half of the night.

Symptoms

• The symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder may include
• Movements such as kicking, punching, arm flailing Or jumping from bed, in response to action field or violent dreams , such as being chased or defending yourself from an attack.
• Noises such as talking, laughing, shouting, emotional outcries or even cursing.
• Being able to recall the dream if you awakened During the episode.

 Causes

• No pathway in the brain that prevents muscles from moving are active during normal REM or dreaming sleep, resulting in temporary paralysis of our body. In REM sleep behavior disorder these pathways no longer work and you may physically act out your dream.

Risk factors

Factors associated with the development of REM sleep behavior disorder include

Age

However more women are now being diagnosed with the disorder, especially under 50, and young adults and children can develop the disorder usually in association with narcolepsy, an antidepressant use or brain tumors

Having narcolepsy

Having narcolepsy or a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime of drowsiness

Taking Certain Medication

Especially newer antidepressant elements or the use or withdrawal of drugs or alcohol should be observed very carefully.

Recent evidence suggests that there May also be several specific environmental or personal risk factors of REM sleep behavior disorder, including occupational pesticide exposure, farming smoking or previous head injury.

Treatment

Treatment of REM sleep disorder may include physical safeguard and medications

Physical safeguard

• Your doctor may recommend that you may make changes in here room or environment to make it safer for you and your bed partner including
• Padding the floor near the bed
• Removing dangerous objects from the bedroom such as sharp items and weapons
• Placing a barrier on the other side of the bed
• Protecting bedroom windows
• Possibly sleeping in a separate bed or room from your bed partner until symptoms are controlled

Medications

• Melatonin Your doctor may prescribe a dietary supplement called melatonin, Which may help reduce or eliminate your symptoms
• This medication may be as effective as clonazepam and usually well tolerated with few side effects.
• This prescription medication often used to treat anxiety, is also the traditional choice for treatment of REM sleep behavior disorder, appearing to effectively reduce symptoms, this price scribed medicine may cause side effects such as daytime sleepiness, decreased balance, and worsening sleep apnea.