Trying to Understand Narcolepsy
Abstract
Narcolepsy effects 1 in every 2000 Americans each year. Symptoms include cataplexy, sleepiness and hypnagogic hallucinations. The history of this disorder dates back as far as the late 1800’s where the term narcolepsy was first coined. Sleep patterns are very different for a person with narcolepsy from a person who sleeps normally. They onset of narcolepsy usually occurs around 10-25 years old in most people. The cause of narcolepsy may come from a loss of neurons in the brain, environmental or genetic factors. Treatment includes medications in addition to planned rest periods.
Understanding Narcolepsy
We all need sleep and most people spend one-third of their life sleeping (author, date). We all need sleep to survive and most of us enjoy doing it. There are many different areas of study when it comes to sleep disorders. Neurobiologists can try to understand sleep disorders by examining sleep. Narcolepsy affects approximately 250,000 or 1 in 2000 Americans and scientists are looking to perfect treatment (Narcolepsy, 2010). Period goes after the parentheses. This type of disorder is often misdiagnosed, in fact many people are unaware that they even suffer from it. “Chronic sleepiness during the day, cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis are the main characteristics of Narcolepsy” This is clearly a quote ( p. #). A small percentage of people experience the four symptoms at the same time. My goal is to examine the disorder called Narcolepsy and the symptoms that occur within the context of this paper. In addition to explaining sleep this paper will a brief history, biological factors, and how research will help gain a better understanding of narcolepsy.
“Narcolepsy, a syndrome of excessive sleepiness and abnormalities of rapid-eye-movement.”(Disgorges, & Aldrich, 1990, p.1). Sleep occurs in distinct cycles, early sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep. Through the...