Giving Compass' Take:

• Shawn Hayward-McGill at Futurity reports on a large study confirming that people with REM sleep disorders had a very high risk of Parkinson's disease progression. 

• These findings will improve the selection process for clinical trials and help doctors prioritize patients for therapies that prevent the disease, where can donors help support?

• Here's an article showing that smartphone use is causing sleep deprivation. 

The study will allow better candidate selection for clinical trials and more effective therapy development.

The study, which Ron Postuma from The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital) and the Montreal General Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre led, followed 1,280 patients with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder.

This is the largest study ever performed on patients with this disorder, which causes violent acting out of dreams as the normal paralysis during sleep is lost.

Previous research has found close correlation among REM sleep disorder, Parkinson’s disease (PD), and related diseases such as Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy. To test drugs that may prevent PD from occurring, researchers need to identify people who are at high risk of the disease before it develops.

The period between development of REM sleep disorder and symptoms of PD is particularly long, making those with the disorder good candidates for clinical trials to test new PD therapies.

Read the full article about sleep disorder being linked to Parkinson's disease by Shawn Hayward-McGill at Futurity.