Evaluating the Impacts of Parasomnias on Sleep and Exploring Their Therapeutic Interventions
Vishwaj Chinala, Chang Su
Journal of Student Research May 31, 2024 DOI: 10.47611/jsrhs.v13i2.6804 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | The review organizes common parasomnias by whether they arise from REM or NREM sleep and describes their diagnosis, causes, epidemiology, and pathophysiology, along with current pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. The authors contend that understanding the processes behind parasomnias and their associated conditions is essential because much about these disorders and their treatment remains unknown. |
Abstract
Sleep disorders are topics of important discussion as they apply to a function crucial for the growth and development of individuals. Sleep plays a pivotal role in one's long-term health but various disorders may limit or prevent high-quality sleep for children and adults. One of these common disorder groups is parasomnias. As there is still much to learn in medicine when it comes to parasomnias and their treatments, it is of utmost importance to understand the processes behind the occurrence of parasomnias and their associated conditions. This review breaks down the most common parasomnias, categorizing them based on the onset of disease during rapid eye movement (REM) or non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep stages. This includes somnambulism (sleepwalking), confusional arousals, night terrors, REM behavior disorder (RBD), nightmare disorder, and others. It highlights the characteristics of diagnosis for these individual disorders and attempts to evaluate them through an etiological, epidemiological, and pathophysiological lens. This review also presents the current pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for these disorders.