An increase in nightmares and hallucinations – or 'daymares' – could herald the onset of autoimmune diseases such as lupus, say an international team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and King's College London. The researchers argue that there needs to be greater recognition that these types of mental health and neurological symptoms can act as an early warning sign that an individual is approaching a 'flare', where their disease worsens for a period. In a study published today in eClinicalMedicine , researchers surveyed 676 people living with lupus and 400 clinicians, as well as carrying out detailed interviews with 69 people living with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (including lupus) and 50 clinicians.
Lupus is an autoimmune inflammatory disease known for its effect on many organs including the brain. In the study, the team also asked patients about the timing of 29 neurological and mental health symptoms (such as depression, hallucinations and loss of balance). In interviews, patients were also asked if they could list the order that symptoms usually occurred when their disease was flaring.
One of the more common symptoms reported was disrupted dream sleep, experienced by three in five patients, a third of whom reported this symptom appearing over a year before onset of lupus disease. Just under one in four patients reported hallucinations, though for 85% of these, the symptom did not appear until around the onset of disease or later. When the .
