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Narcolepsy
To understand narcolepsy we first must understand what a sleep disorder is. ...
Narcolepsy is a chronic (long-lasting) neurological (affecting the brain or nerves) disorder that involves your bodys central nervous system. ... For people with narcolepsy, the messages about when to sleep and when to be awake sometimes hit roadblocks or detours and arrive in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is why someone who has narcolepsy, not managed by medications, may fall asleep while eating dinner or engaged in social activities - or at times when he or she wants to be awake.
About one in 2,000 people suffers from narcolepsy. ... For the majority of persons with narcolepsy, their first symptoms appear between the ages of 15 and 30.
In narcolepsy, the order and length of NREM and REM sleep periods are disturbed, with REM sleep occurring at sleep onset instead of after a period of NREM sleep. Thus, narcolepsy is a disorder in which REM sleep appears at an abnormal time. Also, some of the aspects of REM sleep that normally occur only during sleep - lack of muscle tone, sleep paralysis, and vivid dreams - occur at other times in people with narcolepsy. ...
A recent study has shown that individuals with narcolepsy are missing cells from the hypothalamus that secrete a hormone called hypocretin, or orexin. On autopsy, the brains of people with narcolepsy showed clear evidence that the cells had been destroyed, perhaps by an autoimmune disorder or a toxin. ...
Since narcolepsy has been shown to run in families, there may be a genetic component to the condition.
Approximate Word count = 1267
Approximate Pages = 5.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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