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Calming the tremors of Parkinson disease remains a challenge for both patients and doctors alike, but new research suggests that future therapies for the condition may emerge from an unlikely place: people's sleep habits.

Scientists at Sacre Coeur Hospital at the University of Montreal report in the journal Neurology that Parkinson can be predicted relatively accurately up to 12 years before the first muscle tremors appear. People diagnosed with an unusual sleep condition called REM sleep disorder, in which they physically act out their dreams by kicking, screaming and even harming themselves and others lying next to them, are 18% more likely to develop a neurodegenerative disease like dementia or Parkinson within five years of their diagnosis, and 52% more likely after 12 years. "We have been aware of the potential connection between REM sleep disorder and these diseases for some time, but this is the largest and longest study to estimate the true risk of getting Parkinson and other neurodegenerative diseases if someone has the sleep disorder," says Dr. Ron Postuma, the study's author and a neurologist at Montreal General Hospital. (See the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2008.)

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