5/2/2023 0 Comments Narcolepsy cataplexy syndromeTreatmentĪt this time, there is no cure for narcolepsy. It’s also important to note that while research is still being done to determine what causes narcolepsy, NT2 has been connected to head trauma and diseases that affect the brain. NT1 is two to three times more common than NT2, although some theorize that NT2 is a precursor to NT1. If they do begin to experience it later in life, their diagnosis can be reclassified as NT1. Unlike those with NT1, individuals with NT2 don’t suffer from low levels of hypocretin-1, so they are at a lower risk of experiencing cataplexy. It’s been found that people with NT1 have a loss of 90% or more of the normal number of hypocretin-making neurons. Why? Because they have low levels of a particular chemical called hypocretin-1, a chemical that helps regulate wakefulness. Even if cataplexy isn’t present at diagnosis, individuals who suffer from NT1 are at an increased risk of experiencing cataplexy. There are two types of narcolepsy: NT1 (narcolepsy type 1) and NT2 (narcolepsy type 2). Hallucinations when a person is falling asleep or waking up.Sleep paralysis is also not damaging to a person’s overall functioning. Like with cataplexy, the individual experiencing sleep paralysis is fully conscious but is unable to move. Sleep paralysis aka the temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up.Particularly intriguing is that when people wake back up, they feel suddenly refreshed and awake. These incidents are brief and last no longer than a few seconds, but can be very confusing and have resulted in car accidents. Automatic behaviors: when a person with narcolepsy falls asleep during an activity yet continues the activity without consciously being aware of what they’re doing.Some only have a few episodes in their lifetime, while others can have multiple attacks in one day. Generally, cataplexy is a symptom that comes after EDS-and not all narcoleptics experience cataplexy the same. Cataplexy episodes last only a few minutes and the person will fully recover once coming out of the episode’s state. While scary for both the narcoleptic and the people around them, cataplexy is not dangerous unless a person is, for example, driving. This sudden loss of muscle tone is similar to what naturally happens during REM sleep. While fully conscious, they are unable to move, speak, or keep their eyes open. When this happens, a person can experience a range of cataplexy severity, with mild cataplexy causing the eyelids to droop and severe cataplexy causing a person to completely collapse. Cataplexy is triggered by certain behaviors, such as laughter, fear, anger, stress, or excitement. Many describe this overwhelming feeling of sleepiness as a “sleep attack,” as it comes on quickly.Īnother main, and unique, symptom of narcolepsy is cataplexy, or the sudden loss of muscle tone (contraction of the muscles and their resistance to passive states) while a person is awake. No matter how much sleep a person with narcolepsy receives, they will be persistently sleepy throughout the day. This results in the main symptom of narcolepsy: EDS (excessive daytime sleepiness). Narcolepsy impacts the brain’s ability to control a person’s sleep-wake cycle, causing a person with narcolepsy to enter into the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep much quicker (within 15 minutes) than what is considered normal (60-90 minutes). Raising awareness of narcolepsy will help combat the number of misdiagnoses that take place and will enhance our understanding of the disorder. This can lead to serious declines in a person’s mental and physical health, as they may feel ostracised from social life due to their disorder and not being properly supported or treated. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for narcolepsy to be misdiagnosed as a psychiatric disorder, resulting in a sufferer receiving inadequate and misplaced care. Untreated narcolepsy can impact nearly every aspect of an individual’s life: academic, work, social, psychological, and even cognitively. A condition that affects both genders and all age groups, between 135,000 to 200,000 individuals in the United States are thought to suffer from narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a relatively rare and fairly mysterious neurological disorder that causes quick and unexplainable bouts of drowsiness and sleep.
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