Narcolepsy (written by a highschool student)

A detailed Summary of Narcolepsy (written by a highschool student)

Contrary to popular belief narcolepsy is not a psychological disorder. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that causes sleep problems. Narcolepsy is a very serious sleep disorder ; even though narcolepsy itself isn't fatal, it can cause excessive sleepiness during the day, which in turn can cause the narcoleptic person to fall asleep while driving their car ; this is when the disorder is fatal.

A narcoleptic patient experiences many different symptoms. No narcoleptic experiences the disorder in the same way, not all narcoleptics experience all the symptoms. Also the degree at which a narcoleptic might experience these symptoms can vary greatly from minimum ( less than once a week) to a maximum (daily). Some of the common symptoms include paralysis either when waking or when falling asleep, excessive sleepiness throughout the day, hynagogic hallucinations, and cataplexy. Probably the most common symptom of this sleeping disorder, is the excessive sleepiness. Even after a good nights rest a narcoleptic may feel as if he hasn't slept at all. This is probably because narcolepsy cause the

Because at any time 135,000 Americans can be suffering of Narcolepsy a lot of time and money has been put in its research. A research team headed by Stanford University has found a new gene that might be associated with narcolepsy. Head researcher Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD is very exited by this discovery. This gene found in dogs is a recessive gene, it would have to be acquired from both parents. Even if someone has the gene that doesn't necessarily mean that they will get narcolepsy. Researchers believe that this gene will be like the diabetes gene, meaning that even with the gene the person doesn't suffer from narcolepsy until it is triggered by something else. It is also believed that because of this discovery, they have just opened the door to a cure. The gene is called Hypocretin receptor 2 codes the protein that acts like antennas for neurons, allowing them to receive information. Molecules called Hypocretins emit the protein. Since the gene is defected it encodes pro!

teins that cannot be recognized by other cells thus cutting off cessential directive, including perhaps messages that promote wakefulness.

Delta waves become slower and become mostly predominant. Metabolic, heart, and breathing rates continue to drop. In this stage they go down to about twenty to thirty percent below normal active ones.

Another test given to find any sleep disorders is the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT). Results for this test might show:

Some narcoleptics experience other symptoms. One of these symptoms is automatic behavior. Automatic behavior is when a patient does a usual task (even a complicated one) and has no memory of doing the task. This can possibly be due to the extreme sleepiness and fatigue a narcoleptic experiences. Another less specific is the disrupted nocturnal sleep that the affected patient experiences. This is the mini-arousals that a narcoleptic experiences, which can

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Category: Science