Day in and day out, many college students find it difficult to get out of bed. Glancing around classrooms, it is clear that most could use a few extra hours of shut-eye. However, how many find it difficult to stay awake more than an hour or two or fall asleep in the middle of a conversation? Hopefully, none of you answered this question with “I do.”
WebMD defines narcolepsy as “a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness.” For those with normal sleep cycles, sleep occurs in stages, each becoming deeper and deeper until REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep is reached. We are also able to control, to a degree, when to wake up and when to sleep. However, narcoleptics do not have this ability. Narcoleptics have no control over their sleep and wakefulness, dropping into and waking up from a sound sleep with no warning. Narcoleptics also do not have regular sleep cycles, and REM sleep is reached almost immediately after falling asleep..
So then what’s the big issue? As it turns out, even though narcoleptics wake up feeling refreshed, this feeling doesn’t last for long, only for an hour or two. The very fact that they go into REM sleep so quickly can help explain many of the symptoms of narcolepsy, which include vivid hallucinations which are indistinguishable from reality, cataplexy, or the sudden loss of muscle tone, and most importantly, excessive daytime sleepiness.
When one experiences cataplexy, his head suddenly falls forward, his jaw slackens, and his knees buckle causing him to collapse. This symptom, along with narcolepsy itself, is usually triggered by intense emotion, such as surprise, anger, or happiness. Imagine collapsing and falling asleep every time you started laughing. These sleep attacks may be funny when you’re watching them on a YouTube video, but not so much if the narcoleptic is crossing the street or driving a car. This is what keeps many narcoleptics from enjoying the things most of us take for granted, like having fun with friends in the pool, driving, or even crossing the street on their own.
The most basic sign of narcolepsy, however, is Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, also called EDS. Even if the narcoleptic slept for 12 hours the night before, EDS will still interfere with everyday functions. People with EDS generally have little or no energy and concentration, depressed feelings, memory lapses, and extreme exhaustion on a daily basis.
You might be wondering what causes narcolepsy; however, this still baffles scientists as the exact cause has yet to be discovered. PubMed Health does, however, list several possible causes. Sometimes narcolepsy is due to a decreased amount of hyprocretin, which is a protein found in the brain. But doctors don’t really know what causes less of this protein so they don’t know how to counteract this. Others suggest that narcolepsy might be an autoimmune disorder, which means the body’s immune system attacks itself.
The symptoms of narcolepsy usually first start occurring in people between the ages of 15 and 30. Narcolepsy is a chronic condition, meaning once you have the disorder, you’re stuck with it for life. Narcolepsy occurs in about 1/2000 people, yet most cases go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for an average of 10 years.
The reason for this is that it is difficult to diagnose narcolepsy since there are a lot of sleep disorders that can have similar symptoms, like insomnia and sleep apnea. And sometimes, because of the hallucinations, narcolepsy is first diagnosed as a psychiatric disease, such as schizophrenia. A physical exam and blood tests can help rule out any other diseases. Afterwards, two sleep tests are performed. The first, the Multiple Sleep Latency Test, is performed to see how long it takes you to fall asleep during the day. Since narcoleptics fall asleep much quicker than a normal person, this test is very effective. The second test, the polysomnogram, is performed overnight while the patient is sleeping to check for abnormalities in the sleep cycle. If REM sleep occurs at unusual times in the sleep cycle, other sleep conditions can be eliminated.
The problem is even if one is diagnosed, there is still no known cure for narcolepsy, only methods that can help control its symptoms and reduce the number of sleep attacks, such as taking naps during the day. This is most effective when it is done after meals since food usually makes people happy and can induce these sudden attacks. There are even some prescription drugs that act as stimulants that can keep one awake, like armodafinil or Ritalin.
I’m sure many of you no longer take your sleep for granted. You know that your sleepiness is due to your terrible sleep habits. This can be repaired. However, if you or someone you know regularly falls asleep in the middle of a laugh, perhaps it is time to make that dreaded doctor’s visit.