Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. Narcolepsy in the only known neurological disorder that affects the brain in such a dramatic way where symptoms can include; sleep paralysis (cataplexy) and hallucinations. According to Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA symptoms such as cataplexy can be brought on by "laughter, embarrassment, social interactions with strangers, sudden anger, athletic exertion or sexual intercourse may trigger an episode." (Siegel, 2000) There is no cure for narcolepsy and is often misdiagnosed for depression, epilepsy, and fainting and sleep deprivation.

Many people when they think of narcolepsy tend to laugh at its symptoms and find it to be a very strange but an entertaining sleep disorder. There are even some famous people who have narcolepsy; Harold Ickes (Bill Clinton's deputy White House Chief of staff), Nicole Jeray (professional golfer), Natsassja Kinski (actress) and one other famous person who did not waste anytime letting the disorder hinder her from freeing thousands of slaves back in the 1800's; the late Harriet Tubman (abolitionist). There are also several breeds of animals that suffer from narcolepsy. The videos of dogs that are narcoleptic are all over the internet entertaining people who find it "cute and funny". Dogs however, have been part of many research projects that have aided in the understanding of the disorder. Contrary to the connotations made about narcolepsy, it disrupts the lives of people who have it. Narcoleptics have problems in school, holding down a job and not surprisingly they are accident prone, with about 10 times the rate of car accidents as the general population. Getting some insight in this perplexing sleep disorder can help us understand Narcolepsy and its symptoms and reveal to us that it is not that uncommon as we think it is.

Reason for the Selection of Narcolepsy

I chose this topic for many reasons, one of the reasons is because you rarely hear people talk about it and it is a very mystifying subject. The sleep disorder that I am familiar with is insomnia and I have suffered from insomnia off and on in my life and know many people who do have insomnia. Narcolepsy to me is a disorder that I wanted to research on because I have known little about the subject and find it fascinating. I had worked with a man who throughout the day he would fall asleep. This is normal I would assume for those who possibly did not sleep enough or have problems sleeping but I have never known someone to sleep standing up or would fall asleep in the middle of doing a task at work. I can only imagine he suffered from Narcolepsy and because of the stigma that is attached to this disorder; I don't think he was the type of person to let anyone know he had this disorder. I have to be honest and say that I am one of the many that had also found it funny and entertaining when seeing videos on the internet or hear about someone's having it and the situations they would get into. Now after researching the subject I feel I have much more empathy for people who suffer with this disorder.

1st Article- Narcolepsy by Jerome Siegel

This article was authored by a professor of psychiatry and a member of the Brain Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center. In the article Mr. Siegel identifies the symptoms and how through many research studies within the past several years, researchers are beginning to unveil many of the mysteries surrounding the disorder of narcolepsy. Within citing many research projects that have gone on and including the research Mr. Siegel himself has spear-headed he has identified the specific regions of the brain that appear to be affected in one of the symptoms that come with narcolepsy, which is cataplexy, according to Mr. Siegel "have discovered that they are the same regions that normally prevent us from moving in synchrony with our dreams (for example, thrashing our legs when we dream we are in a race)."(Siegel, 2000) Cataplexy is definitely one of the most interesting symptoms of narcolepsy; this symptom is when there is a loss of skeletal muscle tone without the loss of consciousness. What could bring on the cataplectic attack of a narcoleptic individual would be such things as laughter, embarrassment, any social dealings with strangers, anger, exercise and sexual intercourse. Of course the most incapacitating symptom is the daytime sleepiness. This poses a big problem for narcoleptics whether driving a vehicle, or job related duties. Narcoleptics are potentially at high risk for car accidents and far as job related duties it is hard to reach their potential because of their disability.

Narcoleptics affects between one in 1,000 and one in 2,000 people in the United States. In Israel the rate is one in 500,000 and the highest rate is in Japan at one in 600. The first signs of narcolepsy begin in the teens or 20's. Symptoms tend to get worse for a few years then levels off.

Mr. Siegel states that narcolepsy is associated to a disorder of the sleep control mechanism. The sleep cycle normally consists of two primary phases: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non- REM sleep. "Non-REM sleep is a quiet sleep state, the muscles are relaxed but maintain some tone, breathing is regular, the cerebral cortex generates high-voltage waves, and consumption of energy by the brain is minimal." (Siegel, 2000) As to REM sleep the breathing and heart rate are not as regular and the characteristic rapid eye movement occurs and this is the stage at which vivid dreams take place. The reason for pointing this out is that people who are not narcoleptic begin their sleep with non-REM sleep and then about 90 minutes later they go into REM sleep. However, with narcoleptics they go right into REM sleep.

Mr. Siegel points out that people in general from time to time experience sleepiness which is normal, but with narcoleptics it is the amount of sleepiness that is abnormal. And of course the symptom that is distinguishable is the cataplexy that comes with narcolepsy. Cataplexy does not occur in normal individuals, so researchers and scientists can gain some insight into the disorder by observing this phenomenon; cataplexy.

There has been major studies and advancement in research in narcolepsy due to the fact that scientists in the early 70's discovered that certain breeds of dogs were also narcoleptic.