title: Dysthymic disorder and rheumatic pain modulation disorder (fibrositis syndrome): a comparison of symptoms and sleep physiology.
abstract: It has been suggested that "fibrositis" or rheumatic pain modulation disorder (RPMD) is a variant of depressive illness. Both disorders are associated with abnormalities in sleep physiology. Since the clinical features of RPMD do not meet all the criteria for a major depressive disorder, the symptoms and sleep physiology in subjects with dysthmic disorder (DSM III criteria) (N = 6), and RMPD (N = 6) were compared, in order to determine the similarity between the two groups. The sleep physiology in dysthymic disorder was first examined over three consecutive nights since a systematic evaluation of the sleep physiology in this group of disorders has not yet been reported. All dysthymic patients showed episodic bursts of high-amplitude (75-150 microvolts) theta (3-5 Hz) bursts in stage 2 sleep, and REM onset latency was abbreviated only on night 2. The theta bursts have not been previously reported, and may be an early marker of disorganization of non-REM sleep in the dysthymic subjects. The comparison of the two groups revealed that RPMD subjects reported more pre- and post-sleep pain (p less than 0.01), lighter sleep (p less than 0.01), and more physical ailments during sleep (p less than 0.01), and had more alpha (7-11.5 Hz) in non-REM sleep (p less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moldofsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D013826:Theta Rhythm