Written by Tatjana Djakovic, Staff Writer. In a study, 57 children with sleep terrors were given tryptophan and reduced night time episodes by 45.5% more than those not given tryptophan.
Sleep terrors are periods of sudden waking from sleep with constant fear or terror, screaming, sweating, confusion and increased breathing and heart rate. The disorder usually affects children between 5 and 7 years of age but can also affect adults (1). The onset of sleep terrors occurs suddenly and usually within 2 hours of sleep onset. During the events children seem confused and disoriented and an attempt to awaken them may increase their agitation and prolong their episode. It has been determined that the condition is partially hereditary (2). The treatment often involves counseling and the use of anti-psychotic and sedative medications which have many side effects (3).
In this study, researchers have evaluated the use of an essential amino acid tryptophan to treat night terrors, which becomes enzymatically converted into 5-HTP (5-hydroxytrptophan) in the body. The study included 45 children (34 males and 11 females, ranging from 3.2 to 10.6 years that are affected by sleep terrors which were divided into treatment (n= 31) or no treatment groups (n=14). Patients were diagnosed using the following criteria:
- Sudden awakening during the first third of the night with a piercing scream or cry accompanied by intense fear
- No memory of the events that occurred during the episode
- At least 3 episodes during the last month
- Presence of sleep terrors episodes for at least 3 months
- No seizures
The children in the treatment group receive a dose of 2mg/kg daily of 5-HTP administered at bedtime. The treatment outcome was positive, because those individuals that received the treatment had a much greater reduction in the number of episodes compared to the placebo group. The complete disappearance of sleep terrors was achieved in more than half of the cases (16 out of 31) whereas 13 children showed a reduction of more than 50% in frequency of episodes (4).
| Number of episodes at the beginning of study | After 1 month | After 6 months | Percent reduction after 6 months | P value | |
| Treatment with 5-HTP | 6.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 93.9% | P<0.00001 |
| No treatment | 6.6 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 48.4% | P <0.001 |
The study shows that tryptophan is a very promising treatment for sleep terrors, and it would be highly beneficial if these results are verified in a large placebo-controlled study. Nonetheless, tryptophan is a great alternative to pharmaceutical drugs especially for young children.
Source: Bruni, Oliviero, et al. “L-5-Hydroxytryptophan treatment of sleep terrors in children.” European journal of pediatrics 163.7 (2004): 402-407.
© Springer-Verlag 2004
Posted November 25, 2013.
References:
- DiMario FJ Jr, Emery ES III (1987) The natural history of sleep terrors. Clin Pediatr 26: 505–511.
- Nguyen, Bich Hong, et al. “Sleep terrors in children: a prospective study of twins.” Pediatrics 122.6 (2008): e1164-e1167.
- Crisp, A. H. “The sleepwalking/night terrors syndrome in adults.” Postgraduate medical journal 72.852 (1996): 599-604.
- Bruni, Oliviero, et al. “L-5-Hydroxytryptophan treatment of sleep terrors in children.” European journal of pediatrics 163.7 (2004): 402-407.
