The most pleasurable time in our schedule is probably to sleep! We act as if we are unaware of our anxieties for a few hours. However, that does not mean we love to sleep all day and fall asleep during an important activity. Moreover, we will not want to live that way. Unfortunately, a few in our population fall asleep while driving, walking, eating, and performing other essential activities. It feels strange to even think of such a nightmare where people crave a natural and everyday life. Such a disorder is explained in detail in the further article.
Narcolepsy is guided as a chronic neurological sleep disorder where a person is referred to as hyposomnia as they feel sleepy most during the daytime, which leads to a considerable impact on their day−to−day daily life. It highly affects less than one percent of men and women with persistent symptoms for a lifetime. It usually transpires during the young age or adulthood, with daytime sleepiness as a significant symptom. Daytime sleepiness is not because of inadequate sleep at night; instead, it is the brain's disorder that leads to drowsiness during the day.
While it is common for a layperson to fall sleepy during a tedious activity, people with narcolepsy fall rapidly asleep during a monotonous situation that instructs no active participation. It is a significant disorder that causes sudden and overwhelming sleep anytime during the day, even while performing an activity such as talking with someone, eating your meal, dancing at a show, working or studying in a classroom, etc. The highest danger people face with the disorder is that they can fall asleep even while driving, which can lead to accidents and trauma. In addition, the miserable point is that narcolepsy never goes away, its symptoms are persistent throughout a lifetime, and though controllable with a few medications, no clear evidence has been demonstrated.
Following are the some of the significant symptoms −
Daytime Sleepiness − the most prominent and primary symptom is that a person feels sleepy during the daytime and honestly falls asleep even while enacting an act. Sleepiness can often be categorized as irresistible and tends to worsen with inactivity. Falling asleep with a sudden flop of consciousness is a problematic symptom to bear, and quick naps tend to be restored. Rapid eye movement (REM) latency is particularly short in narcolepsy.
Cataplexy − is the sudden weakness of muscles affecting a part of the body or the entire body itself. Some typical symptoms are − feeling weak in the knees, sagging face or eyelids, slurred speech, head dropping, arm or leg weakness, and precisely falling on the floor. These episodes of weakness usually last for a brief period, sometimes just a few seconds.
Hallucinations − hallucinations are frequent in people who feel sleepy in narcolepsy as sometimes they get separated from reality. People see or hear things that are not present in fact. There is even a time for hallucinations; generally, before sleeping or just after waking up from sleep, people with narcolepsy can hallucinate.
Fragmented Sleep − this symptom may seem strange, as people are sleepy most of the day but cannot sleep for longer. Their sleep is often fragmented, which makes them awaken most of the time at night. In youths, however, when narcolepsy first arises, the 24−hour bedtime time can increase unexpectedly and can periodically be associated with persistent cataplexy that can manifest as a clumsy gait.
Weight Gain due to oversleeping during the daytime, their body performs less activity which leads to weight gain. Weight gain is familiar, particularly after symptom onset and especially in children. As a result, obesity is frequent comorbidity because obstructive sleep apnea can accordingly develop; all patients with narcolepsy instruct screening for sleep−disordered breathing.
Many biological and psychological reasons lead to narcolepsy. However, more often, due to abnormality in brain parts, physical causes tip narcolepsy. During the day, when usually awake and active, you might fall asleep with a little alert, rapidly going into a stage called Rapid Eye Movement (or REM) sleep. During normal REM sleep, there is both dreaming and temporary loss of muscle tone. With the transition to REM sleep in narcolepsy, hallucinations, cataplexy, and sleep paralysis might occur. It is believed that narcolepsy is related to the lack of a brain chemical called hypocretin. In some cases, (but not all), it is an inherited disorder.
Treatment for such disorder can be pharmacological and non−pharmacological as its treatment is based on curing symptoms rather than curative management to eradicate the illness. A few treatments are listed below.
Naps can be scheduled or arranged between 15−20 mins to impose alertness in the patients.
To ensure the patient gets sufficient sleep during the night, further regulate a healthy sleep cycle.
Individuals with narcolepsy should evade medications that can cause sedation, such as opiates or barbiturates; alcohol should be undervalued or avoided when dealing with other medical conditions.
The following medications are best suited to cure narcolepsy.
Modafinil− 100−400 mg/daily, divided into two doses.
Armodafinil− 150−200 mg/daily, once daily in the morning
Methylphenidate− two times a day, 5 mg
Dextroamphetamine− 5mg twice a day
While most of the part of narcolepsy is cleared in the above article, our knowledge of this particular disorder still lacks behind due to insufficient research. Several emerging investigators target the hypocretin system's impact as the condition's cause. Further, drugs are yet to be presented to maintain the hypocretin system in balanced, leading to a cure for the disorder. Apart from this, narcolepsy certain viruses have also been associated with narcolepsy, and the hope to cure it entirely still lives vigorously.
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