Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder that is much often overlooked. Those who suffer from this disorder or know someone that has been diagnosed knows that it is no laughing matter. Narcolepsy is a genetic disorder that usually runs in families. This topic is especially interesting to me being this disorder runs in my family. What exactly does a normal day look like for a narcoleptic patient? There are many different symptoms that can arise that make someone’s life much harder. It is not only hard for the patients, but the loved ones that are in their lives. A question that should not be overlooked is: what is the importance of being aware of this disorder? The importance of being aware of narcolepsy can be found through learning about symptoms, treatments, etcetera. Having awareness of the disorder can prevent some of the hardships that come along with it.

Narcolepsy is when there is a chemical imbalance in the brain. The specific chemical is called hypocretin. The main function of this chemical is to control wakefulness and sleepiness (WebMD). This disorder comes along with sudden sleep attacks throughout the day. Someone that has been diagnosed may find themselves having cataplexy attacks. Cataplexy is the “sudden loss of all muscle tone” (Mayo). This is usually caused by strong emotions, such as laughing or getting angry (Mayo). There is no cure for this disorder (Mayo). Treatment is the only way to subdue symptoms a patient may experience. This disorder can be especially hard on family members and friends because they have to watch their loved one go through suffering and they also have to take care of them if their case is bad enough. When patients have cataplexy, they cannot drive for the single reason that they could have a cataplexy attack at any time without any type of warning. Most people over look this disorder because it is just thought of as being lazy. Having a chronic sleep disorder is much more serious than it is made out to be. Certain jobs can become an issue for narcoleptics. If they have to handle heavy/dangerous machinery, they could severely injure themselves if they had a sleep attack and/or a cataplexy attack (Aldrich).

Symptoms can take over someone’s life if the case is bad enough. This can include sleep attacks along with cataplexy, vivid dreams, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. Angie Collins compares the brain of a narcoleptic person to a “channel surfer”, that is one who always has to be watching multiple shows at once. Narcolepsy makes one’s brain switch “channels” all the time. One minute they will be fully awake. The next minute they will be asleep. The minute after that they could be awake again but in a day-dreaming stage (TED). Different tests have been conducted on patients with narcolepsy to track their dreams. It has been said that people with abnormal sleep patterns have vivid dreams because their REM sleep is affected. REM is also known as rapid eye movement. People who have narcolepsy enter a REM sleep period much quicker than ones who are healthy. In Pisko’s experiment “Nightmares in Narcolepsy: Underinvestigated Symptom”, it was found that not all narcoleptic patients have vivid dreams. Some even had “mundane dreams” that they could barely remember (Pisko). This is a prime example that everyone’s symptoms can be different. Not one case is alike. Different drugs can be taken to calm the symptoms that arise. The medications that the people who were tested should have been included because medication can alter dreams, blood pressure, breathing patterns, etcetera. If hallucinations became a symptom, they would happen either when someone is falling asleep or as they wake up (Mayo). This is also when sleep paralysis occurs. Sleep paralysis is when you have woken up, but you cannot move your body at all. There is no trouble remembering it afterwards either (Mayo). Scientists have gone into research about the link between emotional stimuli and narcolepsy. Strong emotions can lead to cataplexy. In one experiment, researchers tracked brain activity as patients went into “emotional states” (Susta). Laughing is one of the most common triggers for cataplexy (Susta). By comparing the healthy control patients to the narcoleptic patients, it was proven that strong winds of emotion can cause this symptom (Susta). With cataplexy, one can sometimes feel the attack coming on. That is, if they know what exactly triggers them to have a cataplexy attack and what it feels like when it is coming on. This can sometimes help because they can tell someone around them what is about to happen so that person knows exactly what is happening and what they can do. When narcoleptic people have sleep attacks, they do not know what will happen during the attack and/or when it will happen. When it does happen though, they can continue doing what they doing. This usually only lasts for a couple of seconds and the person is not fully asleep, but they cannot remember what they did (Mayo). When someone starts to notice these symptoms, whether it be in themselves or a loved one, a doctor should be seen (Mayo).

Since there is no known cure for narcolepsy, all that can be done is use different treatments. Every patient is different so it takes qualified doctors to prescribe the correct medicine and/or treatment. With the correct treatment, symptoms can be subdued and a somewhat normal life can be lived. Stimulants, for example Adderall, can be prescribed to help patients stay awake throughout the day (Office of Communications). Antidepressant drugs have also been found to control cataplexy attacks (Office of Communications). With any drug that is highly addictive, doctors need to monitor patients regularly. These drugs can also have unwanted side effects. Doctors have to get the perfect dosage amount for each individual patient because of this (Office of Communication). In some cases, patients cannot get the help that they need because of treatment costs. A study was done in Central Europe and it was found that 80% of treatment costs were covered by insurance and other types of ways. With this, 20% had to be paid out of pocket (Maresova). Not all patients are able to afford this, especially if they have to pay the part of the 80% also. This adds on even more hardship to patients and their loved ones because they know that there is nothing to do about the symptoms (Maresova). In a study that was completed in the United States from 2011 to 2013, it was found that people with narcolepsy had to pay overall more money compared to a controlled group on medicine, hospital and doctor visits, neurologist visits, etcetera (Flores, 401-407). A diagnosis can cause serious mental health issues. After learning all the facts post getting diagnosed, it is a lot to take in. Patients should see a psychologist or a psychiatrist to get help. This is just an extra payment on top of all of the other expenses that have to be made (Flores, 401-407).

Recent news that has been opened up to the public shows possibilities that the H1N1 virus vaccine might have close ties with the disorder narcolepsy. H1N1 is a strand of the flu that receives a different vaccine than the typical flu virus. This virus is also commonly known as the swine flu (Rettner). Scientists began to notice a trend in 2009 and 2010. As stated in paragraph two, hypocretin is a chemical hormone in the brain that controls wakefulness and sleepiness. People with narcolepsy have very low levels of this hormone (Rettner). In the H1N1 vaccine, Pandemrix, there is a viral protein that is very similar to hypocretin. The viral protein can bind to the hypocretin’s receptor and mimic the hormone (Rettner). Signaling in the brain could be affected. If a patient with the flu virus is predisposed to the genetic disorder, narcolepsy, they are more likely to start showing narcoleptic symptoms after being contaminated with the virus. It has been said that narcolepsy affects the immune system (Rettner). When someone’s immune system is down, they are more susceptible to contracting certain illnesses. Therefore, they would most likely get the H1N1 virus if they came in contact with it. It has been proven that there are antibodies in the brain that attack the hormone hypocretin. With less hypocretin, there are more sleep and/or cataplexy attacks. With this in mind, is it possible that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease (Paddock)? The only way to find out was to run different experiments. One experiment was done in Japan where scientists injected certain antibodies into mice. Over a few months, they watched the sleeping patterns of the mice and they became irregular. This is a start to prove that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. To make it a fact, researchers would have to find the part of the brain that produces these antibodies and go from there (Paddock). If someone does not get the H1N1 virus vaccine and they have narcolepsy, it is probably genetics that cause the disorder to show up (Mayo).

There are dangers related to narcolepsy. It may seem like a simple disorder where someone sleeps a lot. Yes, this is the case, although what happens if a narcoleptic person has a sleep attack while driving? What if they have a sleep attack while cooking? A car accident can be caused or burns and cuts can happen while cooking (Mayo). Students with narcolepsy often miss school if not treated with the correct treatment (Inocente, 523). It has been found that obesity can be linked to narcolepsy. It is mostly connected to childhood narcolepsy. Hypocretin is low in narcoleptic patients. Along with controlling sleepiness and wakefulness, hypocretin controls feeding behaviors and energy stability (Inocente, 521). In a study that was performed, 117 patients were used from the Reference Center of Lynn between 2008 and 2011. This experiment kept track of every patients’ sleep patterns, mood, BMI (body mass index), etcetera. It was found that 60% of patients were overweight (Inocente, 521). There was no difference in BMI when comparing patients with or without cataplexy (Inocente, 526). When obesity is a problem, other issues can arise including diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etcetera. Obese narcoleptic patients have to pay close attention to BMI so these problems do not appear. Certain medications, like stimulants, can help reduce weight gain. They decrease hunger which makes the patient lose weight over time.

All cases of narcolepsy are different. This is why specialists are used to diagnose and create a treatment plan for different patients. Narcolepsy can arise at any time one’s life. It is most commonly seen that symptoms start showing up in the adolescent’s stage of life. Some may experience symptoms when they are adults though. An experiment was conducted using test subjects from all different age groups. Researchers were studying when the most common age is that symptoms, such as daytime sleepiness, start to occur. With this kind of study, the subjects had to be very clear on what they were feeling and how bad their symptoms actually were (Wehrle). If they exaggerated or lied in any way, the test could be faulty. Only qualitative data could be observed in this experiment. From the results, the largest group said their symptoms showed up in their adolescents (Wehrle). There is one major flaw in this experiment, that is that adolescents are tired most of the time because they are growing and active. This is also why narcolepsy is usually overlooked in children.

Jacques Galinier put together a set of studies called, “Anthropology of the Night: Cross-Disciplinary Investigations”. The main question for these studies was: why do humans sleep at night? Why do they not sleep during the day? Not all people sleep at night. That is just part of an accustomed routine (Galinier). Anthropologists over all study human behavior. This includes why people do things a certain way. Sleeping at “night time” is a cultural concept. It is what is known as conventional to most people. Narcolepsy is known to cause abnormal sleep patterns. With this information, researchers could prove their point saying that not everyone sleeps only during the night time hours on a 24-hour day (Galinier). If anthropologists made it a point to prove that narcolepsy is only a cultural concept, then they could base it off of the fact that narcoleptic patients are some of the few that do not only sleep at night, disregarding normal napping. Many also think that if one goes to bed and wakes up at the same time every day, the body will slowly get used to it and make note that that is normal. This could help with the daytime sleepiness.

Narcolepsy is a much often overlooked disorder. Many just think that someone who is lazy can use it as an excuse. With everything that a narcoleptic patient has to go through, the disorder should receive more credit for how serious it can get. Some cases are much more serious than others, along with every other disorder/disease. The correct treatment plan can change someone’s life along with the people’s around them. With all of the information that has been collected from different experiments, people can now know how the disorder can affect people and how it can be gotten. If the symptoms are known, it is easier to detect it in someone whether or not a doctor is present. Even if it is clear that there are abnormal sleep patterns and/or attacks, a doctor should always be seen to receive a correct diagnosis. Many people go their whole lives undiagnosed for the sole purpose that they do not think that they could have a brain disorder, that is if the case is not too serious. Even mild cases have effects on people’s social life along with work life and school life. If narcolepsy became a commonly known disorder, like the flu is for a virus, narcoleptic persons and their loved ones would face less hardships. 
