What is narcolepsy?
Narcolepsy is a rare sleep disorder. People with narcolepsy are very sleepy during the day, and so frequently fall asleep. It does not really manage to stay awake. This can happen at all awkward moments or crazy places, such as on the bicycle or during a friendly conversation.
People with narcolepsy are suddenly limp with certain emotions. They collapse or fall over as she example should laugh or be angry very hard. This is called cataplexy.
Most people with narcolepsy sleep at night just bad. They are regularly wake up and dream often violently. The daytime is thus worse. But even if they sleep well, sleep attacks during the day remain.
Narcolepsy has much influence on daily life. The disease makes it difficult to get an education or work.
What causes narcolepsy?
The exact cause of narcolepsy is still unknown. However, it is clear that the brains of people with narcolepsy do not regulate the sleep rhythm.
While sleeping people go through different phases. One of these phases is the dream sleep. People with narcolepsy fall asleep in a dream at the wrong moments. In that moment they get symptoms associated with dream sleep floppy muscles, paralysis and vivid dreams.
It was also discovered that the brains of patients with narcolepsy lack a specific protein: hypocretin. This protein regulates the sleep-wake rhythm.
In people with narcolepsy lack the brain cells that make hypocretin or they do not work well.
What are the signs and symptoms of narcolepsy?
In narcolepsy, you can get different symptoms. The most important are:
- Sleepiness and sleep attacks during the day. Almost all people with narcolepsy fall asleep every day regularly. It can happen anywhere: on the bus, during a work meeting in the theater. Such an attack usually lasts 10 minutes to half an hour.
- Muscle relaxation (cataplexy). When strong emotions relax one or more muscles. Seven out of ten people with narcolepsy suffer from this. Some people relax the leg muscles. They pockets in each other. Others relax the facial muscles. Their head falls forward and they can not talk. Often sagging takes less than 30 seconds.
- Sleep paralysis. People with narcolepsy feel in sleep sometimes suddenly paralyzed. They are still aware of their surroundings, but can not move.
- Hallucinations. When people get to sleep hallucinations. They see, hear and feel things that are not there. This can be very frightening.
- Disturbed sleep. Many people sleep restless at night and often wake up. They often suffer from sleep apnea.
- Automatic behavior. People do things they do not remember them afterwards. So someone can walk into the wrong street when he goes home.
- An urge to overeat. Many people are overweight. One of the four people has a binge eating disorder.
- Fears and phobias. Many people suffer from panic attacks or social phobia.
- Mild depression.
What is the Treatment for narcolepsy?
There is no treatment that can cure narcolepsy. Treatment may reduce the symptoms. You can get medication for several phenomena:
- Drugs to treat sleepiness and sleep attacks. The best known are Ritalin and Modiodal.
- Medication for muscle relaxation.
- Medications to sleep better at night.
Life with narcolepsy
Narcolepsy has much influence on your life. You can reduce the complaints on a number of things to look for, for example:
- Care for regularity. Go to bed and get up at a fixed time on a fixed time on. So teach your body to be at the right moments to go to sleep and wake up.
- Go during the day to sleep briefly once or twice, half an hour to an hour. Research shows that this is better than to all short naps. The best time to go to sleep is between 11 and 13 hours. The second time you can then go to sleep between 17 and 19 hours. In each case a schedule to keep.
- Candy not too much and don't eat too much carbohydrates. Drinking in the evening, no coffee, tea or cola.
- Make sure you get a good physical condition by enough to move.