Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex, multisystem disorder with both neurologic and systemic manifestations, which is usually associated with non-motor symptoms, including sleep disorders. Such associated sleep disorders are commonly observed as REM sleep behavior disorder, insomnia, sleep-related breathing disorders, excessive daytime sleepiness, restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements. Melatonin has a wide range of regulatory effects, such as synchronizing circadian rhythm, and is expected to be a potential new circadian treatment of sleep disorders in PD patients. In fact, ongoing clinical trials with melatonin in PD highlight melatonin’s therapeutic effects in this disease. Mechanistically, melatonin plays its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-excitotoxity, anti-synaptic dysfunction and anti-apoptotic activities. In addition, melatonin attenuates the effects of genetic variation in the clock genes of Baml1 and Per1 to restore the circadian rhythm. Together, melatonin exerts various therapeutic effects in PD but their specific mechanisms require further investigations.

Sleep disorders represent prevalent non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD), affecting over 90% of the PD population. Insomnia, characterized by difficulties in initiating and maintaining sleep, emerges as the most frequently reported sleep disorder in PD, with prevalence rates reported from 27 to 80% across studies. Insomnia not only significantly impacts the quality of life of PD patients but is also associated with cognitive impairment, motor disabilities, and emotional deterioration. This comprehensive review aims to delve into the mechanisms underlying insomnia in PD, including neurodegenerative changes, basal ganglia beta oscillations, and circadian rhythms, to gain insights into the neural pathways involved. Additionally, the review explores the risk factors and comorbidities associated with insomnia in PD, providing valuable insights into its management. Special attention is given to the challenges faced by healthcare providers in delivering care to PD patients and the impact of caregiving roles on patients' quality of life. Overall, this review provides a comprehensive understanding of insomnia in PD and highlights the importance of addressing this common sleep disorder in PD patients.

For three years, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by infection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has completely changed our lifestyles and prepared us to live with this novel pneumonia for years to come. Given that pre-existing flu is caused by the influenza A virus, we have begun unprecedently co-coping with two different respiratory diseases at the same time. Hence, we draw a comparison between SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus based on the general characteristics, especially the main variants’ history and the distribution of the two viruses. SARS-CoV-2 appeared to mutate more frequently and independently of locations than the influenza A virus. Furthermore, we reviewed present clinical trials on combined management against COVID-19 and influenza in order to explore better solutions against both at the same time.

Background: Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) based on clinical symptoms and scale scores is mostly objective, and the accuracy of neuroimaging for PD diagnosis remains controversial. This study aims to introduce a radiomic tool to improve the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis based on Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) metrics. Methods: In this machine learning-based retrospective study, we collected basic clinical information and DTI images from 54 healthy controls (HCs) and 56 PD patients. Among them, 60 subjects (30 PD patients and 30 HCs) were assigned to the training group, whereas the test cohort was 26 PD patients and 24 HCs. After the feature extraction and selection using newly developed image processing software Ray-plus, LASSO regression was used to finalize radiomic features. Results: A total of 4600 radiomic features were extracted, of which 12 were finally selected. The values of the AUC (area under the subject operating curve) in the training group, the validation group, and overall were 0.911, 0.931, and 0.919, respectively. Conclusion: This study introduced a novel radiometric and computer algorithm based on DTI images, which can help increase the sensitivity and specificity of PD screening.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many general hospitals have been transformed into designated infectious disease care facilities, where a large number of patients with COVID-19 infections have been treated and discharged. With declines in the number of hospitalizations, a major question for our healthcare systems, especially for these designated facilities, is how to safely resume hospital function after these patients have been discharged. Here, we take a designated COVID-19-care facility in Wuhan, China, as an example to share our experience in resuming hospital function while ensuring the safety of patients and medical workers. After more than 1200 patients with COVID-19 infections were discharged in late March, 2020, our hospital resumed function by setting up a three-level hospital infection management system with four grades of risk of exposure. Moreover, we also took measures to ensure the safety of medical personnel in different departments including clinics, wards, and operation rooms. After all patients with COVID-19 infections were discharged, during the five months of regular function from April to September in 2020, no positive cases have been found among more than 40,000 people in our hospital, including hospital staff and patients.

Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is a common sequela of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but its prevalence and associated factors beyond 2 years remain unclear. In this multicenter observational study, we assessed 155 recovered COVID-19 patients approximately three years after infection and included 170 age-matched healthy controls as a reference group. Demographic, clinical, psychological, and sleep-related data were collected through structured interviews. Olfactory function at the 3-year assessment was objectively evaluated using Toyota–Takagi (T&T) olfactometry. Paired baseline-to-follow-up T&T data were available only for a small exploratory subgroup of nine patients and were analyzed descriptively. At follow-up, 7 of 155 recovered patients (4.5%) met our T&T-based definition of persistent quantitative olfactory dysfunction, all of whom were older than 50 years. Emotional and sleep disturbances were also common, with descriptive trends toward higher frequencies among women and older individuals. Exploratory analyses suggested that insomnia (AIS > 6; OR 5.35, 95% CI 1.07–26.60; p = 0.033) and anxiety (HAMA ≥ 7; OR 10.54, 95% CI 1.21–91.82; p = 0.04) were associated with persistent T&T-defined quantitative OD, although the small number of outcome events limited statistical precision. These findings indicate that a small proportion of COVID-19 survivors have persistent objective OD 3 years after infection and that persistent OD is associated with anxiety and insomnia.