Narcolepsy Research Paper

Narcolepsy or dyssomina is a chronic sleep disorder of the central nervous system characterized by the brain’s inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles. During the day, people with narcolepsy have sudden and irresistible bouts of sleep that occur at inappropriate times or places, which can last from a few seconds to several minutes and happen multiple times a day. Narcolepsy’s most common major symptom, other than excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), is cataplexy. Sleep paralysis and hallucinations are also common. About 25% of narcoleptics suffer from all four symptoms. Symptoms usually appear between the ages of 7-25. Excessive daytime sleepiness is the most consistently experienced symptom of narcolepsy. People with EDS describe it as
These attacks can occur at anytime during the individuals waking period. The loss of muscle tone can be barely noticeable, such as mild drooping of the eyelids. The most severe attacks result in complete loss of all voluntary muscles. But even during the most severe episodes, people remain fully conscious. Although cataplexy can occur spontaneously, it is often triggered by sudden, strong emotion. Sleep paralysis is the temporary loss of movement and speech while falling asleep or waking up. This is similar to REM cycle induced inhibitions of muscle activity. However, even when severe cataplexy and sleep paralysis occur, they do not result in permanent dysfunction. Hallucinations can accompany sleep paralysis or when the person is falling asleep or waking up. They are usually visual, but any of the senses can be involved. The hallucinations represent another similarity to the REM cycle, were the most vivid dreams
There appears to be a strong link between narcolepsy and certain genetic conditions. One factor that seemed to raise the risk of narcolepsy involved the “HLA Complex” area of the 6TH chromosome. This seems to be a correlation between narcoleptic individual and certain variations of the HLA genes. Certain variations of the “HLA complex” were thought to increase the risk of an auto-immune response to protein producing neurons in the brain. The protein produced, called hypocretin or orexin, and is responsible for controlling appetite and sleep patterns. Individuals with narcolepsy often have reduced numbers of these neurons. Diagnosis is relatively easy when all symptoms are present. The two tests are commonly used for diagnosing narcolepsy are polysomnogram and the multiple sleep latency test. The polysomnogram involves continuous recording of sleep brain waves and a number of functioning nerves and muscles during nighttime sleep. For the multiple sleep latency test, a person sleeps every 2 hours during normal wake times. Observations are made of the time taken to reach various stages of