Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder, or dyssomnia. The condition is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in which a person experiences extreme fatigue and possibly falls asleep at inappropriate times, such as while at work or at school.People with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime. These sudden sleep attacks may occur during any type of activity at any time of the day. This neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness is often confused with insomnia. When a person with narcolepsy falls asleep or goes to bed they will generally experience the REM stage of sleep (rapid eye movement/dreaming state), within 10 minutes; whereas for most people, this shouldn't occur until generally 30 minutes of slumber.
The cause of narcolepsy is not known; however, scientists have made progress toward identifying genes strongly associated with the disorder. These genes control the production of chemicals in the brain that may signal sleep and awake cycles.
The person with narcolepsy may experience very different symptoms and sometimes the only symptom they can report on is extreme daytime tiredness, which may make it hard to diagnose narcolepsy.
Other narcolepsy symptoms include:
* Cataplexy (loss of muscle control): People with narcolepsy often have a sudden loss of muscle control while awake, usually triggered by strong emotions, such as laughing.
* Hallucinations: Some people with narcolepsy experience vivid, sometimes frightening, visual or auditory sensations while falling asleep or upon awakening.
* Sleep paralysis: Sleep paralysis is the inability to move or talk at the beginning or end of sleep.
* Microsleep: Microsleeps are very brief sleep episodes during which people with narcolepsy continue to function (talk, put things away, etc.), and then awaken with no memory of the activities.
* Nighttime wakefulness: People with narcolepsy may have periods of wakefulness at night, with hot flashes, elevated heart rate, and sometimes intense alertness.
* Rapid entry into REM sleep: Narcoleptics have unique sleep cycles. They enter the REM, or dream, phase of sleep right after falling asleep, whereas most people take about 90 minutes to enter the REM phase. Someone with narcolepsy will experience the characteristics of REM sleep (vivid dreams and muscle paralysis) at the beginning of sleep, even if that sleep is during the day.
Each symptom is treated one way or another because right now, there is no general narcolepsy treatment available. Instead, the doctor would prescribe to the patient different drugs such as neurological stimulants as well as antidepressants which targets and suppresses the different symptoms.
