Subjective Sleep Problem

Huntington’s Disease is a brain disorder affecting movement, cognition, and emotions (Schoenstadt). It is a genetic disorder generally affecting people in their middle 30s and 40s (Sheth). Worldwide, Huntington’s disease (affects between 3-7 per 100,000 people of European ancestry (Schoenstadt). In the United States alone, 1 in every 30,000 people has Huntington’s disease (Genetic Learning Center). Huntington’s Disease is a multi-faceted disease, with a complex inheritance pattern and a wide range of symptoms. There is also much research being done in the field of Huntington’s disease, because as of 2012, this disease is untreatable. THESIS.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and other institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct research into narcolepsy and other sleep disorders in laboratories at the NIH and also support additional research through grants to major medical institutions across the country. The NINDS continues to support investigations into the basic biology of sleep, including the brain mechanisms involved in generating and regulating sleep. Within the National Heart, Lung, and Blood

     9)      The brain centers that trigger waking and sleeping schedules may be damaged by Alzheimer's.

Sleep disturbance among the older adult population is known to be a prevalent issue (Gooneratne, Pack, Staley, Schutte-Rodin, Dinges, & Pack, 2011). Much study has

Huntington's Disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder (Walker, 2007 and Harmon, 2007). The gene that causes the disease is located on the fourth chromosome and causes an abnormal number of repeats in the patient's genetic code (Harmon, 2007). Huntington's Disease can have devastating effects on patients' quality of life. The first symptoms of HD generally start between the ages of 30 and 45 and patients are typically asymptomatic prior to this time (Terrenoire, 1992 and Walker, 2007). However, the disease progresses with subtle changes in motor control, personality, and cognition. Patients eventually develop distinct

The three most profound behavioral problems in Huntington 's disease come from the uncontrollable movements called "chorea," dementia, and the altered perception of the

Sleep is a vital component to sustaining life in humans. Even though everyone participates in sleeping, many individuals do not understand the true significance of sleeping, and what benefits and consequences come with too much or too little sleep. Sleep comes in different stages throughout the period of rest, with some stages being more important than others. By interrupting various stages, different types of problems can arise from which stage is being affected. In particular, elder adults are affected in larger numbers to a more extensive depth of issues. “However, aging does not mean elders should encounter sleep disorders; it merely increases the possibility that more elders will seek help to manage the problem” (Song, Hollenbeck, Blair, Schatzkin, Chen. 2012. p.316) By understanding possible causes for sleep disorders, what kinds of physiological effects this has on the aged anatomy, and the types of problems that appear in the psychological aspect, it becomes achievable to begin working towards reversing complications and promoting elder sleep health.

In the present study we sought to characterize abnormalities in sleep architecture and quality, in a cohort of patients with medically refractory versus and controlled epilepsy, versus normal healthy controls and to study the effect of sleep parameters on cognitive function in these groups. The main observations made were of significantly longer self-reported and polysomnographic TST in patients with refractory epilepsy in comparison to controlled epilepsy and healthy controls. Sleep architecture was also found to be markedly disturbed among epilepsy patients in both groups, with prolonged REM latencies, and frequent arousals and awakenings although these abnormalities were statistically similar between the groups. Our main observation is that higher total sleep time has a negative correlation with memory and executive function performance.

Sleep disturbances were measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, a 17 question questionnaire that allowed the participants to self assess their sleep qualities (Taylor et al., 2015). According to the study (Taylor et al., 2015) phenotypic analyses resulted in “Paranoia, Hallucinations, and Cognitive Disorganization displayed moderate, significant correlations with both sleep measures. Negative Symptoms and Anhedonia correlated less strongly, while Grandiosity did not show significant correlations” (p.677). The study found that hallucinations and paranoia compared to cognitive disorganization had a positive correlation with sleep disturbances (Taylor et al.,

The sleep assessment conducted on the patient had an interesting dynamic in how we think we sleep opposed to how our partner says we sleep. The patient wakes up every morning at 6 a.m. and takes a nap right after lunchtime approximately at 1 p.m. The daily naps, according to the patient, last about forty-five minutes to an hour. When asked about restlessness when waking up the patient with a stern voice and pointed finger says, "When I'm up I'm up and ready to go." The patient also explained that they have no trouble staying asleep; however going to sleep can be challenging depending on if anything troubling is on her mind.

long-term difficulties with sleep. As you are aware, for the last ten years she has been under to excellent care of Andrew Kyoong, but was keen for a second opinion.

Sleep is one of the unavoidable daily-living activities and it is one of the most important factors contributing to a person’s health. A quality sleep is essential for the physical, cognitive and psychological well-being of a person. Learning, memory processing and maintenance of the brain are among the most important functions of sleep. In addition to maintaining the brain, sleep has important roles in controlling the

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects roughly 10 individuals per 100,000 (Nopoulus, 2016). This disorder is normally associated with symptoms including motor impairment, namely slowed movements and random muscle contractions, as well as depression and cognitive dysfunction. However, another prominent symptom that has yet to be mentioned until recently is sleep disturbance and alteration of normal circadian rhythms. It is estimated that 60-90% of HD patients have sleep issues and that nearly 60% see those issues as being factors in their overall problems (Goodman et al., 2010). Despite the minimal volume of studies, the overwhelming proportion of HD patients who are afflicted with circadian dysfunction and

The study consisted of 147 adults having their sleep quality measured using the Pittsburgh Quality Sleep Index (PQSI), this measurement was then correlated with cross-sectional measures of volume and longitudinal measures of atrophy. The measures of brain atrophy and volume were from MRI scans an average of 3.5 years after the sleep quality measurement. The variables involved in the study were sleep quality, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, age, and physical activity of the participant. However, only the post hoc analysis took age, BMI, blood pressure, age, and physical activity into account. The results that were derived from the study were that lack of sleep quality was correlated to reduced volume in the superior right frontal cortex and increased atrophy in widespread regions of the frontal, parietal, and temporal regions as shown by

The Framingham Heart Study or FHS followed the sleeping pattern of a large number of adults for ten years. Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine,BUSM, and from FHS were able to include that oversleeping was probably only a symptom of dementia. This meant that reducing sleep will not change the probable outcome. This has lead to the researchers to instead convince people to have themselves screen soon after noticing unusual sleeping patterns. It may lead to an early diagnosis of dementia which can help the patient prepare for a possible future.