What is Narcolepsy? Narcolepsy is a chronic Neurological Disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep cycles. At various times during the day, a patient can fall asleep at any time from just a few seconds to a few minutes.
The patient has little or no control over sleep control and may be in the wrong and embarrassing times for example, while driving, during a meeting or conversation or during lovemaking. Although Narcolepsy is very rare, it still affects many people. In the USA for example, Narcolepsy affects 25 out of every 100,000 people in the community.
Narcolepsy usually manifests itself when the patient is in his late teens or early 20's. However, Narcolepsy can start in both young and old. There is a body of the idea that Narcolepsy is a lifelong condition however, that view is very contradictory at this time. There are three main ways that Narcolepsy manifests itself. They are like this Excessive Daytime Sleep This is where the patient experiences a wonderful night's sleep.
This is the most common form of narcoleptic so far and is what many people associate with Narcolepsy. Cataplexy Here there is a sudden loss of muscle tone with little or no warning. It is usually a second symptom of Narcolepsy although it can occur although it is not very common in some cases. In extreme cases, all the voluntary muscles can collapse with little or no warning.
In mild cases, a small set of voluntary muscles. Episodes can take anything up to 30 minutes the patient is fully aware of what is happening, but can do nothing about it. In some cases, especially when cataplexy persists for a long time, the patient may begin to experience hallucinate. Cataplexy is thought to be performed during times of additional emotional states.
These conditions can be positive, brought about by the patient's happiness, or even from a bad situation when the patient is depressed or angry. Wild ideas It occurs at bedtime and at bedtime. Sleep Disability This can happen at the beginning and end of sleep. It was first described in the 19th century. The patient feels very nervous and unable to move.
The feeling is usually defined as if there is a person or creature sitting on them holding them down. What causes Narcolepsy? There is much debate about what causes Narcolepsy. At this time, there is no direct answer. It is commonly believed that the normal pattern of the brain during sleep is that during the first hour, the electrical activity of the brain decreases. After this hour, electricity activity starts to increase again.
This is accompanied by rapid eye movement (REM) and deep relaxation of your muscles. After a while, the electrical activity in the brain begins to decline again. This cycle repeats itself several times during sleep. Some studies have shown that a person with Narcolepsy does not follow the same pattern, or rather; the first decrease in brain electrical activity is much faster than non-narcoleptic.
This sleep cycle is regulated by neurons within the brain. In narcoleptics, it has been observed that the hormone Hypocretin is significantly lower than in people without Narcolepsy. Hypocretin is believed to regulate neurons, which in turn regulate brain activity during sleep.
As mentioned earlier, this is widely accepted however, there are still many unanswered questions about the cause of Narcolepsy. What is the treatment for Narcolepsy? Since we are not sure what causes Narcolepsy, there are a few treatments that have proved effective. Clinical trials have shown that short sleep a day can help reduce excessive daytime sleepiness.
Also important is that with Narcolepsy, you have a strict sleep rule. This is so that the patient gets the recommended daily sleep rate. For drugs that can help, Sleep During the Day is helped by taking Amphetamine Supplements. However, it should be remembered that these types of drugs have more serious side effects in some cases that may cause more suffering and possibly more damage than Narcolepsy itself.
In patients treated with Cataplexy, it has been found that a number of antidepressant drugs can help relieve the patient's symptoms. Also, there may be side effects from these medications. Narcolepsy can be a problem for a few people, for others, it is just a distraction and a little embarrassing at times. Unfortunately, we do not know exactly what causes Narcolepsy and we do not have the solution.
I hope that one day, we will know why Narcolepsy is and we will probably be able to provide a cure. Until then, there are ways to reduce the problem Narcolepsy can bring to a sick person either by self-medication or by various medications that have been shown to be effective.
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