The International journal of neuroscience
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Sleep disturbances are common in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). These disturbances can primarily affect the patient's quality of life and may worsen the symptoms of PD. Among the multiple sleep disturbances in PD patients, there has been a marked growing interest in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD). ⋯ RBD has been described as a premotor symptom of PD in several prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional studies. Sleep disturbances in PD can result secondarily to natural disease progression, as a side effect of the medications used in PD, or in result of pre-clinical pathology. Treatment of sleep disturbances in PD patients is crucial, as what is termed as, "sleep benefit effect" has been shown to improve the symptoms of PD.