Narcolepsy - Symptoms
And Causes
Narcolepsy Can Be Fatal Without You
Knowing It. Find Out More About The Symptoms And Causes Of
Narcolepsy
If you know of someone, or come across someone who constantly
feels tired during the day, and might fall asleep anytime
in the middle of doing everyday tasks such as cooking or typing,
these symptoms could be a sign of narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is
a commonly misdiagnosed sleep disorder. While others might
attribute the symptoms as resulting from laziness or poor
sleeping habits, to the affected individual, the symptoms
are very real, they are both uncontrollable and can be can
be very frightening.
The symptoms of narcolepsy seldom begin after a person reaches
age 40. Most of the time, they begin to show between ages
10 and 25.
The primary symptom of narcolepsy is constant daytime fatigue
that does not go off regardless the amount of sleep the affected
individual gets. The persistent fatigue makes concentration
difficult and can keep an individual from functioning properly.
This is a problem itself, there is also another symptom of
narcolepsy, which is the propensity to suddenly fall asleep
and complicates the situation further.
What makes this problem so serious is that it happens without
warning, which means the affected individual gets no warning
at all and has no time in advance to prepare for sleep. This
means that they can¡¯t get to a safe place to lie down. It's
not bad if the sleep attack occurs while talking with friends.
In fact, many people find this funny. However, if the person
is driving a car when this symptom strikes, and you know the
consequences are fatal.
The amount of time spent sleeping during these occasions
can range from just a few minutes to 30 minutes or longer.
Once they are awake, the attacks can just repeat several times
throughout the day. Some experience automatic behavior during
these episodes, which means that they continue doing the task
they were performing before they fall asleep. However, they
will have no recollection of the behavior that has taken place.
Another symptom that experienced by almost three-quarters
of narcolepsy sufferers is cataplexy. Cataplexy refers to
an inability to control muscles so someone with this symptom
might have trouble speaking clearly or worse, he or she might
barely be able to control muscle function at all. Some might
experience this symptom everyday while others experience it
only occasionally. Its arrival seems to be linked with a change
in emotions such as when a person laughs excessively or when
the person becomes scared or angry.
Paralysis similar to that which normally takes place during
REM sleep is yet another symptom of narcolepsy. But it does
not occur during REM, this brief paralysis occurs either upon
awakening or while falling asleep. In fact, the person is
fully aware of this brief inability to move or speak, that
person is totally unable to control it, which can be very
scary.
Hypnologic hallucination is a vivid, almost real images that
appear while the individual is in a semi-awake state, which
are another symptom that approximately one-quarter to one-half
of narcolepsy sufferers experience.
Until today, there is no scientific proof that finds the
root cause of narcolepsy. It appears to be a genetic problem
which an abnormally low amount or total absence of a brain
chemical important for regulating sleep
awakening which is known as hypocretin.
| 
