1/67. serum melatonin kinetics and long-term melatonin treatment for sleep disorders in rett syndrome.We studied the circadian rhythm of serum melatonin levels in two patients with classical rett syndrome having severe sleep disorders; serum melatonin levels were measured before and during melatonin treatment using radioimmunoassay. Patient 1 had a free-running rhythm of sleep-wake cycle from 3 years of age. At the age of 4 years, the peak time of melatonin was delayed 6 h compared to normal control and the peak value was at the lower limit. Patient 2 had a fragmented sleep pattern accompanied by night screaming from 1 year and 6 months of age. At the age of 10 years, the peak time of melatonin secretion was normal but the peak value was at the lower limit. These patients were given 5 mg melatonin orally prior to bedtime. Exogenous melatonin dramatically improved the sleep-wake cycle in patient 1. In patient 2, exogenous melatonin showed a hypnotic effect but early morning awakenings occurred occasionally. When melatonin treatment was stopped, the sleep disorders recurred and re-administration of 3 mg melatonin was effective in both patients. The effect was maintained over 2 years without any adverse effects. These findings suggests that sleep disorders in patients with rett syndrome may relate with an impaired secretion of melatonin.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = circadian rhythm, rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/67. circadian rhythm sleep disorder associated with pontine lesion.A 55-year-old man presented with excessive daytime sleepiness and a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed a pontine lesion distinguishable from major cerebrovascular disease, demyelination and neoplasm. benzodiazepines, antidepressants, methylcobalamine and thyroxine failed to synchronize the circadian rhythm. Antiepileptic drugs aggravated the condition, while melatonin and protireline partially relieved the patient from poorly controlled sleep disorder. A pontine lesion appeared to be related to the circadian rhythm sleep disorder of the patient.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3.0783461293637keywords = circadian rhythm, rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/67. Periodic fatigue symptoms due to desynchronization in a patient with non-24-h sleep-wake syndrome.A 43-year-old man complaining of recurrent fatigue symptoms and sleep disorders occurring periodically every 4 weeks was studied. Using a wrist worn actigraphy and an ambulatory rectal temperature monitoring apparatus, his sleep-wake cycle and rectal temperature were measured continuously for 4 months, while diagnostic evaluation and therapeutic interventions were conducted. It was found that after he gave up an attempt to keep to a 24-h-day, a free-running sleep wake pattern appeared but his fatigue symptoms disappeared. An analysis of the relationship between his sleep-wake cycle and the rectal temperature rhythm found that his fatigue symptoms did not appear when both rhythms were synchronized with each other. Artificial bright light therapy entrained him to a 24-h day without relapsing of fatigue symptoms. Desynchronization between a 24-h sleep-wake schedule and his circadian pacemaker may have caused his periodically appearing fatigue symptoms.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.15669225872741keywords = rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/67. circadian rhythm sleep disorders in adolescents: clinical trials of combined treatments based on chronobiology.Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) and non-24-h sleep-wake rhythm are circadian rhythm sleep disorders that are common in adolescents. Most patients have difficulty adjusting to school life, poor class attendance or refuse to go to school. Since a treatment has not been established, the present paper is presented to propose a strategy for treating circadian rhythm sleep disorders in adolescents, based on our clinical studies. Twenty subjects (12 males and eight females, mean age 16.2 /-1.7 years) participated in the study. The onset of sleep disorder occurred between the ages of 11 and 17. The most common factors affecting the onset of disorders were changes in social environment. The subjects kept a sleep-log for the periods before and during treatments. The treatments were based on chronobiology: resetting the daily life schedule, chronotherapy, regulation of the lighting environment, methylcobalamin, and/or melatonin. Bright light exposure was successful in 10 patients, of whom four were treated with methylcobalamin. melatonin treatment was successful in two patients (one with and one without chronotherapy). Thirteen of the 20 patients were successfully, treated with therapies based on chronobiology. After consideration of these results, a step-by-step procedure of combined treatments for the circadian rhythm sleep disorders is proposed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.3133845174548keywords = circadian rhythm, rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/67. Posttraumatic delayed sleep phase syndrome.circadian rhythm sleep disorders may occur after traumatic brain injury. We describe a 48-year-old man who presented with sleep onset insomnia and cognitive dysfunction after a car accident. A diagnosis of delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) was confirmed by sleep logs and actigraphy, which revealed sleep onset in the early morning hours and awakening around noon.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.078359941773612keywords = rhythm, hour (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/67. Supplementary administration of artificial bright light and melatonin as potent treatment for disorganized circadian rest-activity and dysfunctional autonomic and neuroendocrine systems in institutionalized demented elderly persons.Increased daytime napping, early morning awakening, frequent nocturnal sleep interruptions, and lowered amplitude and phase advance of the circadian sleep-wake rhythm are characteristic features of sleep-waking and chronobiological changes associated with aging. Especially in elderly patients with dementia, severely fragmented sleep-waking patterns are observed frequently and are associated with disorganized circadian rhythm of various physiological functions. Functional and/or organic deterioration of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), decreased exposure to time cues such as insufficient social interaction and reduced environmental light, lowered sensitivity of sensory organs to time cues, and reduced ability of peripheral effector organs to express circadian rhythms may cause these chronobiological changes. In many cases of dementia, the usual treatments for insomnia do not work well, and the development of an effective therapy is an important concern for health care practitioner and researchers. Recent therapeutical trials of supplementary administration of artificial bright light and the pineal hormone melatonin, a potent synchronizer for mammalian circadian rhythm, have indicated that these treatments are useful tools for demented elderly insomniacs. Both bright light and melatonin simultaneously ameliorate disorganized thermoregulatory and neuroendocrine systems associated with disrupted sleep-waking times, suggesting a new, potent therapeutic means for insomnia in the demented elderly. Future studies should address the most effective therapeutic design and the most suitable types of symptoms for treatment and investigate the use of these tools in preventive applications in persons in early stages of dementia.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.8433077412726keywords = circadian rhythm, rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/67. Somnolence syndrome in a child following 1200-cGy total body irradiation in an unrelated bone marrow transplantation.Neurological complications may occur following intensive chemotherapy and hematopoietic cell transplantation. Postirradiation somnolence syndrome has been observed in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who received central nervous system preventive therapy with 1800-2400 cGy cranial irradiation. The authors report a 16-year-old boy with chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase, who developed symptoms compatible with the somnolence syndrome (SS) 6 weeks following HLA-matched unrelated bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The preparative regimen consisted of 1200 cGy total body irradiation (TBI), cytosine arabinoside and cyclophosphamide. The patient developed lethargy and low-grade fever, with intermittent rhythmical delta activity in electroencephalograph. He recovered spontaneously without specific therapy 3 weeks after developing symptoms. This is the first report describing that as low as 1200 cGy TBI can induce SS in a child. After allogeneic BMT, some patients develop neurological symptoms. The authors suggest that somnolence syndrome should be included in differential diagnosis in these patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.078346129363703keywords = rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/67. Hypersomnia with periodic breathing (an acromegalic Pickwickian).The syndromes of Pickwickian, Ondine's curse, and primary alveolar hypoventilation are respiratory disorders manifesting increased sleepiness and irregular respiratory rhythms. These disorders are currently grouped as hypersomnia with periodic breathing (HPB). Polygraphic techniques have lead to a reasonable hypothesis as to the pathophysiology of the multiple variants of HPB. Discernible causes of HPB have been attributed to both central and peripheral factors. Peripheral factors encompass those conditions relating to upper airway obstruction. An acromegalic person suffering the HPB syndrome secondary to laryngeal stenosis is described.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.078346129363703keywords = rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/67. Morvan's syndrome: peripheral and central nervous system and cardiac involvement with antibodies to voltage-gated potassium channels.Morvan's 'fibrillary chorea' or Morvan's syndrome is characterized by neuromyotonia (NMT), pain, hyperhydrosis, weight loss, severe insomnia and hallucinations. We describe a man aged 76 years with NMT, dysautonomia, cardiac arrhythmia, lack of slow-wave sleep and abnormal rapid eye movement sleep. He had raised serum antibodies to voltage-gated K( ) channels (VGKC), oligoclonal bands in his CSF, markedly increased serum norepinephrine, increased serum cortisol and reduced levels and absent circadian rhythms of prolactin and melatonin. The neurohormonal findings and many of the clinical features were very similar to those in fatal familial insomnia, a hereditary prion disease that is associated with thalamic degenerative changes. Strikingly, however, all symptoms in our MFC patient improved with plasma exchange. The patient died unexpectedly 11 months later. At autopsy, there was a pulmonary adenocarcinoma, but brain pathology showed only a microinfarct in the hippocampus and no thalamic changes. The NMT and some of the autonomic features are likely to be directly related to the VGKC antibodies acting in the periphery. The central symptoms might also be due to the direct effects of VGKC antibodies, or perhaps of other autoantibodies still to be defined, on the limbic system with secondary effects on neurohormone levels. Alternatively, changes in secretion of neurohormones in the periphery might contribute to the central disturbance. The relationship between VGKC antibodies, neurohormonal levels, autonomic, limbic and sleep disorders requires further study.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = circadian rhythm, rhythm (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/67. Dreaming sleep attacks and desynchronized sleep enhancement. Report of a case of brain stem signs.When central neurologic signs were localized to the vestibular region of the brain stem and cerebellum, a 54-year-old man experienced frequent awakenings from nocturnal sleep and daytime sleep attacks with hallucinosis. Sleep attacks were characterized by lid fluttering and closure, upward turning of the eyes, rapid eye movements, myoclonic twitching of all extremities, and loss of consciousness, lasting one or two minutes and aborted by strong sensory stimulation. At their termination, reports of hallucinoid imagery were given. In a sleep record of 6.5 hours, there were 2.2 hours awake (34%), 4.3 hours desynchronized sleep (66%), and a complete absence of synchronized sleep. Reports of hallucinoid imagery were given after awakenings from desynchronized sleep. The findings support the hypotheses that desynchronized sleep is normally under brain stem control and that some types of narcolepsy may be pathophysiologically related to desynchronized sleep.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4.1437229724976E-5keywords = hour (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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