Making the diagnosis: idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.
OBJECTIVE
To present a clinical case of idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), differential diagnoses, selected treatments, and the pathology involved.


METHODS
An Ovid data base search (covering 635 medical, neurologic, and psychiatric journals) was conducted using the search term RBD and limited to the years 2005-2009. This search strategy was used to locate clinical, research, and review articles providing the state of the science about RBD. A hand search was also conducted for seminal research papers as well as recent publications within the specialty of sleep disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
RBD is a parasomnia with symptoms common to other disorders making it important to identify unique symptoms and diagnostic testing that helps differentiates these diseases. RBD can put the patient and the bed partner at risk for injury. Its prevalence is estimated to be 0.5% in older adults.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurse practitioners are primary care providers for older adults who may have complaints about behaviors associated with RBD. Knowledge of this disease process as well as its relationship with four other neurodegenerative diseases may provide an opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment of RBD and surveillance for and early diagnosis of the other neurodegenerative diseases in these patients.
Taub
Leslie-Faith M
LF
School of Nursing, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA. taublm@umdnj.edu
D000368:Aged; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015415:Biomarkers; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002998:Clonazepam / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D020187:REM Sleep Behavior Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D051843:Synucleins
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D015415:Biomarkers; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D051843:Synucleins; D002998:Clonazepam; D008550:Melatonin