What is Narcolepsy?

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Narcolepsy is defined as a condition characterized by an extreme tendency to fall asleep whenever in relaxing surroundings. It is a brain disorder that causes poor control of sleep and wake cycles. People that have narcolepsy usually experience sudden sleep attacks. These sleep attacks can last from a few seconds to minutes. Narcolepsy is classified by extreme daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnologic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. In this paper the focus is on the physiological effects of Narcolepsy on an individual, as well as explains treatments and recent research studies being made today and in the future.
Narcolepsy effects about .05% of the human population. It is found mostly and Japan and the rarest in Israel. In the United States, 1 in every 3,000 Americans suffer from the condition. It is estimated there are 14 new cases found in the United States a year. Most symptoms begin to appear in the teenage years between the ages of 10 and 20. Figure 2 shows a chart of the number of people who took part in a study and survey that developed narcolepsy and their onset age. The ratio of women to men who have it are 1.5 to 1. Therefore, narcolepsy is more common in the female population. Only 2/3 of narcolepsy patients develop the muscle weakness called cataplexy.
Narcolepsy symptoms usually occur during the teen or young adult years. People who have narcolepsy may find it hard to function at school, work, home, and in their social life because they're always feeling sleepy or tired. The symptoms pointing toward narcolepsy include daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnologic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. First, extreme daytime sleepiness is one of the more obvious symptoms you would have that would point to narco...

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...gov/disorders/narcolepsy/detail_narcolepsy.htm#241193201 http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/nar/ http://med.stanford.edu/psychiatry/narcolepsy/narcolepsyhistory.html http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcolepsy/basics/symptoms/CON-20027429 http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/rem-sleep-behavior-disorder http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/narcolepsy/detail_narcolepsy.htm http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16364145 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcolepsy/basics/causes/CON-20027429 http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/74/1/127.full http://med.stanford.edu/psychiatry/narcolepsy/faq1.html#1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataplexy http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/ask-the-expert/narcolepsy-and-cataplexy http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/new-clue-to-the-cause-of-human-247169.aspx
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17292770

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