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Chocolate linked to nightmares
BBC ^ | Thursday, 4 April, 2002 | BBC

Posted on 04/04/2002 6:00:05 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666

A sleep disorder, in which sufferers unknowingly act out violent nightmares, could be aggravated by chocolate, scientists warn.

Rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, or RBD, affects around one in 200 people, mainly men.

In RBD, sleepers also thrash about and shout as they dream.

But scientists have reassured chocolate and cocoa lovers that there is no evidence linking chocolate to violent sleep patterns in the general population.

There's no cause for panic or to stop eating good chocolate

Vorona suggests that the caffeine in chocolate helps to block a natural process called atonia that paralyses people during dreams.

That means the sleeper is more free to move.

He studied one man who lashed out in his sleep during recurrent nightmares, in which he tried to protect his home against intruders.

The outbursts happened whenever he had eaten chocolate biscuits, ice cream or syrup.

Case report

Doctors found the problems had begun after the patient had sustained head injuries in a car accident.

But chocolate appeared to make the symptoms much worse.

He has been successfully with sedatives, but the man's symptoms recur if he eats chocolate.

Dr Vorona said: "Far be it from me to say chocolate caused the problem. All it probably did was exacerbate it.

He added: "I admit this is just a case report, but I still think it's interesting."

But Maurice Ohayon of the Sleep Disorders Center at Stanford University, California, said there was no evidence linking chocolate to violent sleep patterns in the general population.

He added: "There's no cause for panic or to stop eating good chocolate."

Dr Mark Blagrove, a sleep and dreaming expert from University of Wales, Swansea, told BBC News Online there were various possibilities about how it could be happening.

"It could be it's actually acting on the atonia and stopping it. It could be that the caffeine in the chocolate is causing atonia.

"Or it's possible that people have more vivid dreams that get acted out."

The report is published in New Scientist, and is due to appear in the journal Sleep Medicine.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: chocolate; nightmares; sleepdisorder

1 posted on 04/04/2002 6:00:05 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: the_devils_advocate_666;khepera
IOs your name a farce or do you really worship the devil?
2 posted on 04/04/2002 6:21:23 AM PST by wwjdn
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
Lets criminalize the use of chocolate to protect us from ourselves. CEA the Chocolate Enforcement Agency could then force the price of chocolate up to fund terrorists in South America. This could result in even more terrorism and justify spreading American military might to even more places.

If you eat chocolate- you support terrorism.

3 posted on 04/04/2002 6:28:34 AM PST by Lysander
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
Last time I ate chocolate I saw dead people....

FMCDH!

4 posted on 04/04/2002 6:58:26 AM PST by nothingnew
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To: wwjdn
Let me set you straight, if you worship the devil than I'd imagine you'd have to believe in God. Don't the two go hand-in-hand. Since I'm not so sure of the later, I have trouble putting much faith in the former.
5 posted on 04/04/2002 11:00:16 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
I have a flip side of the coin nightmare involving lack of chocolate or inability to get chocolate. And if I'm not able to supply my wife with chocolate that becomes a liveing nightmare.
6 posted on 04/04/2002 11:10:16 AM PST by fella
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
I think Bill debunked this a long time ago. He seemed to think it had something to do with Hillary and Janet more than chocolate. :^)
7 posted on 04/04/2002 11:32:51 AM PST by Cvengr
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
..."if you worship the devil than I'd imagine you'd have to believe in God. Don't the two go hand-in-hand....?"

Actually no they don't. Worship of God is per God's plan.

Worship of the devil or anything other than God is a devise of Satan hence the etymology of words associated with 'evil'. One might fool themself into believing God doesn't exist, but that is also a devise of the devil or part of evil.

Additionally, man has the ability to sin quite independantly of the devil. Note that enmity was placed in the heart of man upon the fall in the Garden. This means that even when the devil thought he would succeed in leading man astray from God's will, the devil simply lost more authority and respect than he previously had held.

8 posted on 04/04/2002 11:41:14 AM PST by Cvengr
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
That explains my dreams last night, then. I shouldn't have eaten that bag of chips.

\mm/ <--heavy metal goat salute

9 posted on 04/04/2002 12:04:36 PM PST by Britton J Wingfield
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To: the_devils_advocate_666
I've been living a chocolate nightmare myself for the past year or longer, ever since my favourite chocolate selling outlet went out of business. I cannot for the life of me find another place which sells what they sold, individually packed (by them) half pound bags of extra bittersweet chocolate chunks, 1'' - 2'' long, 3/4'' wide, which they themselves bought in 50lb bags from some mysterious choco manufacturer. Help, doctor!
10 posted on 04/04/2002 12:10:57 PM PST by Revolting cat!
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