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Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a complex neurological problem in which the body can't properly regulate its sleep cycles. While those suffering from narcolepsy have periodic, intense urges to sleep throughout the day, at night, they may experience insomnia and other related sleep disorders.

Causes of Narcolepsy

Sleep experts believe narcolepsy is the result of a disease that affects the parts of the brain that regulate REM sleep. According to the National Institutes of Health, a person with normal sleeping patterns typically has four to six sleep cycles, each about 100 - 110 minutes long. Normal sleep cycles start with NREM sleep, transitioning to REM sleep after 80 to 100 minutes.

Those who suffer from narcolepsy often go into REM sleep just a few minutes after falling asleep. The part of the brain most active during REM sleep is the part also linked to the other symptoms of narcolepsy.

Symptoms of Narcolepsy

While narcoleptics tend to start experiencing symptoms between 10 and 25 years old, this sleep disorder isn't usually diagnosed until the patient has exhibited symptoms for years. Therefore, speak with a medical expert as soon as you think you may suffer from a narcolepsy-related problem.

Narcolepsy is characterized by five general symptoms:

Automatic behavior: This symptom generates verbal or motor actions without a person's conscious effort.

Automatic behavior is dangerous because a person can't control his or her body when this symptom occurs. In most cases, the person cannot remember what their automatic behavior was after it happened.
Cataplexy: When cataplexy strikes, a person loses control of his or her muscles. While the loss of control may be slight, such as the inability to smile, cataplexy can also trigger a total collapse of the body.

Experts agree that cataplexy is usually triggered by strong emotions, including anger, anxiety and elation. Episodes of cataplexy can last from a few seconds to several minutes. Should cataplexy occur when an individual is driving, the results can be deadly.
Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS): As one of the main symptoms of narcolepsy, EDS causes narcoleptics to feel incredible tired throughout the day. As a result, daytime napping is very common among those who suffer from narcolepsy.

However, EDS doesn't make a person sleep all the time. In fact, those who suffer from EDS and narcolepsy wake up often at night. Some people explain EDS as the body's way of making up for the sleep a person missed at night.

While a person with EDS may still be getting enough sleep, falling asleep during the day can have serious consequences. Narcolepsy is considered to be dangerous because affected individuals can fall asleep when driving, operating machinery or other unsafe times.
Hypnogogic hallucinations: Hypnogogic hallucinations are a narcolepsy symptom characterized by a dream-like state that narcoleptics experience as they fall asleep. Sometimes they occur when the person is waking up, too. These dreams are generally extraordinarily vivid, affecting all the senses.
Sleep paralysis: Sleep paralysis, a symptom closely linked with hypnogogic hallucinations, also usually occurs as a narcoleptic falls asleep. During sleep paralysis, a person's body is entirely still, unable to move, as though it is in REM sleep. However, even though the body is essentially asleep, a person is actually awake.

Occasionally, those experiencing sleep paralysis think they are still dreaming. At these times, people report having vivid "dreams," or hypnogogic hallucinations.

Narcolepsy Treatment

No cure for narcolepsy exists. Instead, treatment for narcolepsy is complex, often involving the treatment of the individual symptoms.

Prescription drugs can treat EDS and cataplexy, the two most dangerous symptoms of narcolepsy. Patients taking these medications should be closely monitored as these drugs are derivatives of amphetamines and have many potential side effects.

More recently, a non-amphetamine drug has also worked, producing positive results. Some anti-depressants have also been proven to help with cataplexy.

Resources

NIDS. (2006). Narcolepsy Fact Sheet. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from the NIDS Web site: http://www.nids.nih.gov/disorders/narcolepsy/detail_narcolepsy

.htm.

Shuman, T. (2005). Sleep Disorders: Narcolepsy. Retrieved January 24, 2007, from the WebMD Web site: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/105/107670.htm.

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