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The study, the researchers noted, "underscores the fact thatsleepwalking is much more prevalent in adults than previouslyappreciated." Maurice Ohayon, MD, DSc, PhD, professor of psychiatry andbehavioral sciences, is the lead author of the paper, whichappeared in the May 15 issue of Neurology , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Sleepwalking is a disorder "of arousal from non-REMsleep." While wandering around at night can be harmless and isoften played for laughs -- anyone remember the Simpsons episode where Homer began wandering around and doing silly thingsin his sleep? -- sleepwalking can have serious consequences.Episodes can result in injuries to the wanderer or others and leadto impaired psychosocial functioning. It is thought that medication use and certain psychological andpsychiatric conditions can trigger sleepwalking, but the exactcauses are unknown. Also unclear to experts in the field is theprevalence. "Apart from a study we did 10 years ago in the Europeangeneral population, where we reported a prevalence of 2 percent ofsleepwalking," the researchers wrote in their paper,"there are nearly no data regarding the prevalence ofnocturnal wanderings in the adult general population. In the UnitedStates, the only prevalence rate was published 30 years ago." For this study, the first to use a large, representative sample ofthe U.S. general population to demonstrate the number ofsleepwalkers, the researchers also aimed to evaluate the importanceof medication use and mental disorders associated withsleepwalking. Ohayon and his colleagues secured a sample of 19,136individuals from 15 states and then used phone surveys to gatherinformation on participants' mental health, medical history andmedication use. Participants were asked specific questions related to sleepwalking,including frequency of episodes during sleep, duration of the sleepdisorder and any inappropriate or potentially dangerous behaviorsduring sleep. Those who didn't report any episodes in the last yearwere asked if they had sleepwalked during their childhood.Participants were also queried about whether there was a familyhistory of sleepwalking and whether they had other parasomniasymptoms, such as sleep terrors and violent behaviors during sleep. The researchers determined that as many as 3.6 percent of thesample reported at least one episode of sleepwalking in theprevious year, with 1 percent saying they had two or more episodesin a month. Because of the number of respondents who reportedhaving episodes during childhood or adolescence, lifetimeprevalence of sleepwalking was found to be 29.2 percent. The study also showed that people with depression were 3.5 timesmore likely to sleepwalk than those without, and people withalcohol abuse/dependence or obsessive-compulsive disorder were alsosignificantly more likely to have sleepwalking episodes. Inaddition, individuals taking SSRI antidepressants were three timesmore likely to sleepwalk twice a month or more than those whodidn't. "There is no doubt an association between nocturnal wanderingsand certain conditions, but we don't know the direction of thecausality," said Ohayon. "Are the medical conditionsprovoking sleepwalking, or is it vice versa? Or perhaps it's thetreatment that is responsible." Although more research is needed, the work could help raiseawareness of this association among primary care physicians."We're not expecting them to diagnose sleepwalking, but theymight detect symptoms that could be indices of sleepwalking,"said Ohayon. Among the researchers' other findings: The duration of sleepwalking was mostly chronic, with just over 80percent of those who have sleepwalked reporting they've done so formore than five years. Sleepwalking was not associated with gender and seemed to decreasewith age. Nearly one-third of individuals with nocturnal wandering had afamily history of the disorder. People using over-the-counter sleeping pills had a higherlikelihood of reporting sleepwalking episodes at least two timesper month. (Indeed, a sleeping pill was the trigger for HomerSimpson's middle-of-the-night shenanigans.). I am an expert from gsm-gprs-modem.com, while we provides the quality product, such as RF Cable Assembly Manufacturer , Wavecom GMS GPRS Manufacturer, Edge Wireless Modem,and more.
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