This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

One of the most profound, although seemingly minor changes for my husband, now 18 months since his angioplasty--has been the return of dreaming. After his procedure, he would wake up in the morning and recount for me his vivid dream from the night before. It was so strange to us...he realized that for several years, he couldn't remember his dreams. When I went to the CCSVI international symposium in Bologna last year, Dr. Salvi got up and spoke about the changes in his patients after angioplasty. And one of the global differences his patients noted was deeper, more restful sleep...and the return of dreams. He had a wonderful illustration that came on the screen during his power-point... a cartoon of a person deeply sleeping, smiling, with a colorful dream bubble over their head. I almost leapt out of my seat. "That's happened to Jeff!" I whisper/exclaimed to Dr. Dake, seated on my left. "He's dreaming again."

Now, I read time and time again from patients and their caregivers about the return of deep, restful sleep and dreaming. I realize that dreaming might not seem important in the grand scheme of recovery from MS....but I believe it is. I believe it is proof of a brain that is healing. A brain that does not have REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, does not dream. There is research that links dreams, REM sleep and oxygenation.

"REM sleep time is strongly reduced by hypoxic and increased by hyperoxic atmosphere, in accordance with the existence of an O2 diffusion limitation. Any pathological decrease in arterial PO2 and/or O2 delivery creates a specific risk in REM sleep."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11382905

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During REM sleep, there is an increase in blood flow to the limbic system and the brain stem, with circulation to these structures decreasing during non-REM sleep. As brain activity increases during REM sleep, the cerebral requirements for glucose and oxygen both increase....
Fundamentals of Sleep Technology--Butkov, Lee-Choing 2007

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One would normally consider David Maurice, Ph.D., professor of ocular physiology in the Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, a revolutionary. Nevertheless, he has reignited a decades-long controversy that could spark a revolutionary re-evaluation of an entire field of behavioral research. Dr. Maurice has developed a startling new line of scientific inquiry that, when added to other findings, could change our understanding of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the nature of dreams.

What Maurice has done is to suggest an alternative explanation for the phenomenon known as REM sleep, the stage in which the eyes rapidly move and most dreams occur. Dr. Maurice isn't convinced by currently accepted theories about why REM occurs, including the widespread belief that REM exists mainly to process memories of the preceding day's events during dreams. Instead, he hypothesizes that while they sleep humans experience REM to supply much-needed oxygen to the cornea of the eye. In a recent issue of Experimental Eye Research, Maurice suggests that the aqueous humor--the clear watery liquid in the anterior chamber just behind the cornea--needs to be "stirred" to bring oxygen to the cornea.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue- ... echer.html
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This research into REM and oxygenation is still in the beginning phases. I wonder if the fact of slowed perfusion through MS brains creates a need for oxygen, and that the lack of REM sleep proves this. Perhaps the low level oxygen deprivation in the brain caused by CCSVI causes what we now understand as MS spasms, myclonus, and apnea--- in a drastic attempt by the brain to rouse the body, to sit up, to take in more oxygen. My husband used to wake violently in the night, gasping for air. His spasms would jerk him awake. Before angioplasty, he never slept thru the night. He never dreamed. No wonder he was exhausted all day.

Now, I'm the one who wakes in the night-- to see him next to me, peaceful, breathing normally, and dreaming. What has changed? He used to have two malformed jugular veins which deferred to skinny, insufficient collaterals. As soon as he lay down to sleep, those jugulars created slowed perfusion. After angioplasty, he has one vein at 100% and another which is still malformed, but much better. And that is enough to allow his brain the oxygen it needs. That is enough for REM, for dreaming, for healing.

The first REM sleep period usually occurs about 70 to 90 minutes after we fall asleep. A complete sleep cycle takes 90 to 110 minutes on average. The first sleep cycles each night contain relatively short REM periods and long periods of deep sleep. As the night progresses, REM sleep periods increase in length while deep sleep decreases. By morning, people spend nearly all their sleep time in stages 1, 2, and REM.

Another curiousity for me.. my mom once told me, years ago, that she 'never' dreamed then days after angioplasty to resolve cardiac issues she called, very excited to say that she had the previous night a very vivid and colour filled dream.. this for me, is cause to ponder the possible systemic nature of ccsvi.

"REM sleep time is strongly reduced by hypoxic and increased by hyperoxic atmosphere, in accordance with the existence of an O2 diffusion limitation. Any pathological decrease in arterial PO2 and/or O2 delivery creates a specific risk in REM sleep."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11382905

______________________________________________________

During REM sleep, there is an increase in blood flow to the limbic system and the brain stem, with circulation to these structures decreasing during non-REM sleep. As brain activity increases during REM sleep, the cerebral requirements for glucose and oxygen both increase....
Fundamentals of Sleep Technology--Butkov, Lee-Choing 2007

Hey forum members

Apoligies in advance what is REM sleep ?

During sleep, we usually pass through five phases of sleep: stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages progress in a cycle from stage 1 to REM sleep, then the cycle starts over again with stage 1 (see figure 1 ). We spend almost 50 percent of our total sleep time in stage 2 sleep, about 20 percent in REM sleep, and the remaining 30 percent in the other stages. Infants, by contrast, spend about half of their sleep time in REM sleep.

During stage 1, which is light sleep, we drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. Our eyes move very slowly and muscle activity slows. People awakened from stage 1 sleep often remember fragmented visual images. Many also experience sudden muscle contractions called hypnic myoclonia, often preceded by a sensation of starting to fall. These sudden movements are similar to the "jump" we make when startled. When we enter stage 2 sleep, our eye movements stop and our brain waves (fluctuations of electrical activity that can be measured by electrodes) become slower, with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. In stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves begin to appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves. By stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is very difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called deep sleep. There is no eye movement or muscle activity. People awakened during deep sleep do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes after they wake up. Some children experience bedwetting, night terrors, or sleepwalking during deep sleep.

When we switch into REM sleep, our breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, our eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and our limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Our heart rate increases, our blood pressure rises, and males develop penile erections. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales – dreams.

During rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep in adult subjects, the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO) is as high as that during wakefulness.