Narcolepsy – Knowing the Ins and Outs of This Disease
Posted by Admin | Posted in Narcolepsy | Posted on 07-12-2009
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According to numerous reports and studies, the cases of narcolepsy have grown into about three million and two hundred of these are Americans. It can even be considered as widespread diseases just like Parkinson’s. It can be discovered in any age range but the symptoms of narcolepsy are more apparent in groups of young adults who are in their twenties to thirties.
What is Narcolepsy?
This is a chronic sleeping disorder where the brain in incapable of keeping up with the sleeping and waking up cycle of the body. People who suffer from such a disease can experience the potent craving to sleep at any part of the day. They would just get to sleep in a spontaneous manner and would normally last for a few minutes or seconds. However, the extreme cases of narcolepsy can allow the person affected sleeping for almost an hour.
Statistics say that there are more men affected by this disorder than the women. Many say that the most common symptoms of narcolepsy would be basically just about having the sudden urge to eat and crave for a wide variety of foods.
Symptoms of Narcolepsy
It could help a lot if everyone would be able to tell if a person is suffering from narcolepsy. Depending on its condition and subtlety, narcolepsy is only fully detected after around ten to fifteen years have passed.
People who suffer from narcolepsy experience a lot of EDS or the excessive daytime sleepiness which can already get in the way of your normal lifestyle routine. The person suffering from it would find it hard to focus hard since the automatic behavior made by microsleeps can really put the patient to sleep even while doing something really serious.
Another scary symptom is the cataplexy which is defined as the absence of muscle tone which could lead for you to feel weak. It allows you to lose your voluntary muscle control and serves as another type of disorder, something much worse than narcolepsy. And then the third primary symptom would be the hypnagogic hallucinations which could involve not just the visual sense but all the other senses as well.
What Causes Narcolepsy
Based on a few research, it showed that what causes narcolepsy primarily is when the brain lacks the stimulating chemical in the brain that encourages the behavior of sleeping. The reasons for such a happening remain undefined. Infections can also be a main cause especially when a person has underwent a brain surgery or has experienced a severe level of stress.
The inheritance of a few abnormal genes is recently been studied to become one of the main causes of this disorder too. Since abnormal genes can really get in the way of the hypothalamus working for the improvement of your sleeping pattern. For some, the disorder can really run around the family but this does not mean that just in case majority in your family does not have it, you won’t have it as well.
To understand narcolepsy fully is one of the most effective ways to learn and fight this sleeping disorder successfully.