Sweet, silent sleep is a thing of memory for many people with Parkinson's.  If sleep has become a problem for you or someone you care about, here are some links that are interesting and possibly helpful:

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Special Parkinson's Research Interest Group (SPRING) is the official Special Interest Group for Medical Research, constituted within the Parkinson's Disease Society of UK.  They have originated a Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS), which is determined by means of a simple questionnaire that a PD patient can take in the doctor's office.  They say it's the first such scale to take PD-specific factors into account. 

I was surprised at the strength of this statement:  "Sleep disturbances are common, under-diagnosed, and poorly managed in PD and contribute to significant morbidity. Current tools employed in detection of sleep disorders are insensitive in elucidating the specific aetiology [causes] of PD-related sleep disturbance."  They say up to 96% of PD patients have sleep disturbances.

Another surprise was SPRING's finding that, "Work in our department has indicated that sleep quality and patients' quality of life can be significantly improved by sustained dopamine agonism through the night using cabergoline in comparison to controlled release levodopa and pergolide."

This is a good one to print out and take to your doctor; it includes the patient questionnaire.

http://spring.parkinsons.org.uk/SPRING_Times/16/7

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MORE SLEEP SITES OF INTEREST

 The National Sleep Foundation tells us: "At least 40 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, yet more than 60 percent of adults have never been asked about the quality of their sleep by a physician and fewer than 20 percent ever initiated a discussion."  The site includes a daytime sleepiness test.
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/

Who doesn't know that you learn better after sleep?
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-20.html
and
http://www.nature.com/nsu/nsu_pf/010426/010426-15.html

They just discovered in April that certain nerve cells send you to dreamland:
http://www.nature.com/nsu/nsu/000427/000427-8.html

But wait! Let's not have all the fun until we read a serious explanation of everything that disturbs your sleep, by neurologists who ought to know, on the Neurology Channel.
http://www.neurologychannel.com/sleepdisorders/

 

And if you're one who struggles against sleep, here's what's going on in your brain:
http://www.nature.com/nsu/nsu_pf/000210/000210-11.html

 

One more fun one—they're studying the noble platypus to see why he has such a deep, dreamless sleep.  I know he'd rather be left alone, but hey, anything for science, right Bill?
http://www.nature.com/nsu/980813/980813-5.html