Though the symptoms of night terrors in adolescents and adults are similar, the cause, prognosis and treatment are qualitatively different. These night terrors can occur each night if the individual does not eat a proper diet, get the appropriate amount or quality of sleep (e.g. sleep apnea), is enduring stressful events, or if he or she remains untreated. Adult night terrors are much less common, and often respond to treatments to rectify causes of poor quality or quantity of sleep. Night terrors are classified as a mental and behavioral disorder in the ICD. A study done about night terrors in adults showed that other psychiatric symptoms were prevalent in most patients experiencing night terrors hinting at the comorbidity of the two. There is some evidence of a link between night terrors and hypoglycemia.When a night terror happens, it is typical for a person to wake up yelling and kicking and to be able to recognize what he or she is saying. The person may even run out of the house (more common among adults) which can then lead to violent actions. It has been found that some adults who have been on a long-term intrathecal clonidine therapy show side effects of night terrors, such as feelings of terror early in the sleep cycle. This is due to the possible alteration of cervical/brain clonidine concentration. In adults, night terrors can be symptomatic of neurological disease and can be further investigated through an MRI procedure.
Epidemiology
Worldwide, the prevalence of all hereditary spastic paraplegias combined is estimated to be 2 to 6 in 100,000 people. A Norwegian study of more than 2.5 million people published in March 2009 has found an HSP prevalence rate of 7.4/100,000 of population – a higher rate, but in the same range as previous studies. No differences in rate relating to gender were found, and average age at onset was 24 years. In the United States, Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health which means that the disorder affects less than 200,000 people in the US population. References
Further reading
GeneReviews/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Spastic Paraplegia 3A
GeneReviews/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia Overview
Warner, Tom (January–February 2007). "Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia" (PDF). Advances in Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation. 6 (6): 16–17. External links
Spastic Paraplegia Foundation