ABSTRACT
The earliest description of sleep problems of Parkinson's disease (PD) dates back to the original description of PD by James Parkinson. In spite of sleep dysfunction being a key aspect of the non-motor symptom complex (NMS) of PD, it is only that sleep disturbances related to PD have received diagnostic and therapeutic attention, with emergence of some relevant reviews and research-based publications. Sleep dysfunction in PD is multifactorial and as many as 98% of patients with PD may suffer at some time from nocturnal symptoms that can disturb their sleep. The chapter reviews some key aspects of pathophysiology of sleep dysfunction in PD and related individual sleep disorders. Sleep disorders related to PD are multifactorial and for this reason, attributing causation is complex. Night-time akinesia is perhaps the clinically most relevant symptom that patients complain of. Nocturnal akinesia usually results from a relatively 'drug-free' period for PD as most regimes use the last dopaminergic treatment well before bedtime.
