Should We Prescribe Light Therapy for Our Sleepy Parkinson Disease Patients?

Patients' daytime sleepiness is reduced after either bright light or control (low-level red) light therapy.

Researchers performed a two-center study to examine the safety and efficacy of light therapy on excessive daytime sleepiness. Thirty-one Parkinson disease patients who were free of dementia, free of primary sleep disorders, and receiving optimized dopaminergic therapy were randomized to bright-light therapy or dim red light (control) therapy. Additionally, the baseline Epworth Sleepiness Scale was 12 or greater, indicating moderate to severe problems with alertness. Light (bright or dim) was administered in the morning and the evening for 1 hour each on a total of 14 days. Disease duration was relatively short for the participants in the bright-light therapy arm (5.9 years vs. 8.4 years for controls).

Improvements in the primary outcome vari…

Reviewing Author

Michael S. Okun, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America

Speaker’s BureauMedscape/WebMD CME, Movement Disorders Society CME, American Academy of Neurology CME

RoyaltiesBooks4Patients; Demos; Cambridge; Taylor and Francis; Robert Rose; Public Affairs

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; Parkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America; University of Florida Foundation

Editorial BoardsTremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements; JAMA Neurology

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesParkinson’s Foundation (Medical Advisor)