I’ve always been a dreamer and often awaken in the night
puzzling over what remote area of my brain produced those mini-motion pictures.
My dreams are often a mystery, especially when I wake up with vivid images of my
nighttime adventures.
We all dream, but some people cannot remember their dreams
when they awaken. I tend to remember mine and find myself inspired, disturbed,
or downright puzzled. I kept a dream journal for a long time as a means to
jumpstart my writing. I am amazed at how many ideas I can glean from my dreams.
Just a few of the images I remember from last night: (1) I
dreamed my house was connected to my work and a former employee had removed my
cat’s litter box and let her outside. (2) I had gone to the dentist (whose office
was at a mall) and forgot to remove the clothing protector when I left, but
managed to accidentally put on two fancy scarves that didn’t belong to me. (3)
My sister and I hopped on a trolley to return to the mall to get my coat and
return the scarves.
Does any of that make sense? In a strange way, most of it
does relate vaguely to something that happened the day before. Think about Dorothy
and the Wizard of Oz. Her dream from
the bump to her head was a fascinating distortion of the events leading up to
the tornado.
Did you know that studies before 1950 showed that most
people dreamed in black and white? That began to change during the sixties, and
now about eighty-eight percent of us dream in color. Nearly ninety-six percent younger
than twenty-five dream in color. This change is believed to be the result of
the changeover from black and white film to color media. It really makes sense
if you think about it.
One of the theories behind dreaming is that dreams are our
way of consolidating our memories and attempting to make sense of them. We
dream during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage. While our eyes move, normally,
the rest of our body is paralyzed. In our family, several of us have, or have
had, paralyzing nightmares. During this event, we are trying to wake from a bad
dream and realize that although the mind is awake, the body cannot move. It is
a disconcerting feeling, to say the least.
On CBS This Morning, Dr. James Galvin talked about a study
from Mayo Clinic about dreams and the connection to dementia. This study showed
that if you act out your dreams by kicking, shouting, punching, or thrashing about,
you are at higher risk of developing dementia. In fact, the study shows this is the strongest predictor of
developing Lewy Body disease.
Approximately 1.3 million people in the United States have
Lewy Body disease. Both men and women develop the disease, but it is more
common in men. Lewy Body disease is under diagnosed because of symptoms it
shares with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, but subtle differences help physicians
make a diagnosis. Now, added to other differences, acting out dreams may be
another indicator of the disease.
Lewy Body disease is best treated with a comprehensive
approach by a team of specialists. Cholinesterase inhibitors, such as Aricept,
work well on Lewy Body disease. In fact, it is believed the cholinesterase
inhibitors are more effective on this disease than on Alzheimer’s. The movement
disorders associated with Lewy Body is treated with Parkinson’s medication.
Antipsychotic drugs should not be used for hallucinations because they react
differently on persons with Lewy Body disease. These drugs worsen symptoms in
fifty percent of those using them, and can cause a fatal reaction called
neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS).
Of course, one of the problems with Lewy Body disease is REM
Sleep Behavior Disorder. This is often treated with melatonin or clonazepam.
It is important to remember that if you move around and act out
your dreams, it does not mean that you have Lewy Body disease or that you will
develop it. If you develop signs of dementia, it is something to mention to
your team of physicians during testing to determine the cause of your cognitive
problems.
The connection between sleep and function the following day
is strong. A lack of sleep or disturbed sleep affects our thinking process.
Now, acting out during sleep means a person is five times more likely to
develop Lewy Body dementia than those who sleep quietly during dreams.
Sleep is essential to our health and wellbeing. The REM
stage of sleep is when our minds can take us places we will only reach through
dreams.
Copyright © 2013 by L.S. Fisher
http://earlyonset.blogspot.com
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