The First Person to be Diagnosed with RBD | CNN
Donald Dorff's experience with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), first diagnosed in 1982, highlighted his violent, physical actions during dreams, leading to significant breakthroughs in sleep disorder research.
Dr. Carlos Schenck's (University of Minnesota) work with Dorff revealed that RBD involves the loss of muscle paralysis during REM sleep, often preceding the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia with Lewy bodies.
Dorff's case and subsequent research showed that controlling RBD symptoms with medication could potentially delay the onset of these severe conditions, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Carlos Schenck, NAPS Scientific Advisory Board member and physician who first described RBD, discusses the importance of seeking medical evaluation for acting out dreams in the link below.
