Narcolepsy

Overview

Narcolepsy causes sleeping disorder which usually disturbs day to day life. You can suddenly fall asleep with out any signs of it. This are called as sleep attacks, making you feel restless and drowsy. Few other signs of narcolepsy are difficult concentrating, disturbed sleep in the night, loss of muscle control and hallucinations.
It is difficult to figure out how many individual are suffering from this as it is not reported most of the time or may not be cured correctly. This is a very rare disorder, about 3-5 people are affected in about every 10,000. As of now there is no cure to narcolepsy, but in case the condition prevails there are several treatments available to possibly reduce it in your day to day life. This is will certainly not be a cause of ant health problems but it will make a severe impact on your professional and personal life.
Symptoms
The initial signs of narcolepsy appear at the age of 10 to 25 years. Though the symptoms may vary from one person to another, few experience it often while others seldom experience it.
Sleep attacks
Falling asleep suddenly with out any signs are very normal symptoms, you can experience sleep at instance and the duration can be for at least 15 minutes. This can repeat throughout the day. Once awake you will feel fresh and attentive. Few other systems are; automotive behavior or carry normal activities while sleeping, restless sleep at night, difficulty in concentration, hallucinations, temporary muscles paralysis, staying awake difficulty and persistent drowsiness.
Cataplexy
At least 70% of people suffering from narcolepsy also face cataplexy. Sudden loss of muscular control is caused by cataplexy like; legs collapse, head slumps down, slurring of speech or dropping your jaws. This may last for a few minutes or seconds and often cause because of some excitement, fear or laughter. Some experience the attack several times in a day and some once or twice a year.
Causes
The reason for this disorder is yet to be determined. Few suggest that it be genetic but only 2% are affected genetically. Below mentioned are some possibilities which may contribute for the same
Normal sleep pattern
While you are asleep you go through two steps. Firstly is the Non-rapid eye moment (NREM), your brain slows down actively during this stage; you will be in this state for 1-2 hours. The second step is the, Rapid eye moment (REM), this increases the brain activity and dreaming often occurs during this stage
Narcolepsy sleep pattern
People with Narcolepsy don’t experience the first step of NREM and directly go in for the Second step, REM. As soon they fall asleep they start dreaming and can experience this at any time.
Brain chemicals
Imbalance of chemicals in the brain can result in narcolepsy. The activity of Sleeping is regulated by a chemical called hypocretin. This helps you to stay awake and also wakes you from sleep. People with low levels of hypocretin suffer from narcolepsy. This is can cause irregular sleep. The reason for chemical imbalance is still not know. Some studies suggest that the immune system which protects the body from infection at times attack the cells producing hypocretin.