Subject(s)
Hospitalization , Sleep Wake Disorders/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Sleep StagesABSTRACT
A Central Nervous System (CNS) acetylcholine receptors involvement in Myasthenia Gravis (MG) has been suggested but never fully demonstrated. On the other hand, although the question concerning the neurotransmitters connected to REM sleep is still unsettled, the importance of acetylcholine as a neurotransmitter involved in the maintenance of this sleep stage has been outlined. The spontaneous night sleep organization has been studied in 9 male subjects with MG and results are compared with those obtained in normal subjects matched for age and sex. Statistically significant differences have been found: 1) slow-waves sleep better represented in MG patients; 2) average REM period length shorter in MG patients; 3) instability of the EEG consisting in a tendency toward lightening of sleep. These findings may confirm the presence of a disturbance in the CNS cholinergic activity of MG patients.
Subject(s)
Myasthenia Gravis/physiopathology , Sleep/physiology , Adult , Brain/physiopathology , Electroencephalography , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Receptors, Cholinergic/physiology , Sleep, REM/physiologyABSTRACT
The organization and the quantitative evaluation of sleep stages were studied in patients with cerebellar syndrome. 25 polygraphic night recordings were scored according to the criteria suggested by Rechtschaffen & Kales (1968) and the sleep parameters investigated were referred to those indicated by Williams et al. (1974). The results matched with a homogeneous sample of normal subjects. Significant alterations were observed for several parameters of sleep, and the possible causes discussed.
