People who experience rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) may go on to develop conditions such as dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease, or multiple system atrophy. The researchers studied the medical records of 27 people with these three neurodegenerative conditions who had also experienced RBD earlier in life...

American neurologists and sleep experts suggest in a recent study that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder could be an early sign of Parkinson's disease or dementia that develops up to 50 years later. You can read how neurologist and sleep specialist Dr Bradley F...

A Glasgow-based medical research company is leading a worldwide sleep study which could radically reduce the symptoms associated with dementia. The groundbreaking trial, conducted by CPS Research, is the first of its kind to investigate the use of sleep hormone melatonin as an add on treatment for dementia. The study is already showing remarkable initial results in volunteers from Scotland...

In the spring, later sunset and extended daylight exposure delay bedtimes in teenagers, according to researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center (LRC). "Biologically, this increased exposure to early evening light in the spring delays the onset of nocturnal melatonin, a hormone that indicates to the body when it's nighttime," explains Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D...

A new survey of child psychiatrists indicates that insomnia is a major problem among children in mental health treatment and at least a quarter of these patients are given sleep medication...

Sleep is a state when our senses and motor activity are relatively suspended; there is total or partial unconsciousness, and all voluntary muscles are inactive. Sleep is more reversible than hibernation or coma, but responds less to stimuli than quiet wakefulness. Sleep is the body's rest cycle...

A survey reveals that parents lose an average of six months' sleep during the first 24 months of their child's life. Approximately 10% of parents manage to get just two-and-a-half hours continuous sleep each night, the Silentnight survey found. Over 60% of parents with babies aged less than 24 months get no more than three-and-a-quarter hours sleep each night...

The European Medicines Agency has recommended restricting the use of modafinil-containing medicines. The medicine should only be used to treat sleepiness associated with narcolepsy. Doctors and patients should no longer use the medicine for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, excessive sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnoea and chronic shift work sleep disorder...

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc...

A good night's sleep is crucial to daily function, but more than 40 million Americans live with an undiagnosed or untreated sleep disorder in the United States...

A judge Wednesday criticized the Federal Trade Commission for the "strong possibility" that it "overstepped its bounds and shared confidential information" in a pay-for-delay case between the government and a generic drug company, Reuters reports...

Drugs commonly taken for a variety of common medical conditions including insomnia, allergies, or incontinence negatively affect the brain causing long term cognitive impairment in older African-Americans, according to a study appearing in the July 13, 2010 print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology...

Neurim Pharmaceuticals confirmed that the European Commission (EC) has approved a change in treatment duration with Circadin from 3 to 13 weeks (3 months). Circadin is indicated for the treatment of primary insomnia in patients who are aged 55 or over...

Drinking tart cherry juice daily could help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food1. A team of University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester and VA Center of Canandaigua researchers conducted a pilot study on the sleep habits of 15 older adults...

Disruption of two genes that control circadian rhythms can lead to diabetes, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found in an animal study. Mice with defective copies of the genes, called CLOCK and BMAL1, develop abnormalities in pancreatic cells that eventually render the cells unable to release sufficient amounts of insulin...

Severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) raised the risk of heart failure for middle-aged and older men - and significantly raised the risk of coronary heart disease in men up to age 70, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association...

New research finds that a history of sexual abuse, regardless of the victim's gender or age when the abuse occurred, correlates strongly with a lifetime diagnosis of multiple psychiatric disorders...

Head and neck cancer patients who reported poor sleep quality one year after diagnosis had more symptoms of chronic pain and complaints of dry mouth related to radiation treatments, according to a recent study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned that the unapproved use of the malaria drug Qualaquin (quinine sulfate) to treat night time leg cramps has resulted in serious side effects and prompted the manufacturer to develop a risk management plan aimed at educating health care professionals and patients about the potential risks...

A pilot study of teenagers in a small private school in the US found that delaying the start of the school day by just half an hour was linked to significant improvements in students' alertness, mood and health and confirms similar findings by other studies...