People are awake the majority of the day, but a large portion of the day is consumed by sleeping. A good night’s rest is essential because without an appropriate amount of sleep, the hours spent awake can become impacted. Unfortunately, sleep disorders can affect a person’s sleeping abilities. Narcolepsy is one example of a sleep disorder that will affect someone at night and through the day. Narcolepsy can be defined as a neurological disorder where the person experiences daytime sleepiness, usually at inappropriate times, cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. Researchers have recently discovered within the last ten years is that Narcolepsy can be caused from a lack of the neurotransmitter hypocretins/orexin. The Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep process is also affected in people diagnosed with narcolepsy (Ritchie, Okuro, Kanbayashi, & Nishino).
…show more content…
There are two different forms of narcolepsy, either with or without cataplexy. The majority of the current research focuses on people who have narcolepsy with cataplexy, and this is where the hypocretins die off. The reasoning behind narcolepsy without cataplexy is not well established. The hypothesis for this form is that damage to the hypocretin neurons possibly cause the symptoms to not show as rigorously (“The Science of Narcolepsy,” 2013). Predominate symptoms of narcolepsy include: sleep attacks, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, sleepiness, and hypnagogic hallucinations. When a person falls asleep during the day, they have a sleep attack. Once they wake up, though, the person will feel completely awake. Cataplexy is when the body wakes up and becomes paralyzed, and sleep paralysis is when the body becomes paralyzed moments before falling asleep. Along with sleep paralysis, a person with narcolepsy will experience hypnagogic hallucinations, vibrant dreams that occur prior to falling asleep (Carlson,
There are two different forms of narcolepsy, either with or without cataplexy. The majority of the current research focuses on people who have narcolepsy with cataplexy, and this is where the hypocretins die off. The reasoning behind narcolepsy without cataplexy is not well established. The hypothesis for this form is that damage to the hypocretin neurons possibly cause the symptoms to not show as rigorously (“The Science of Narcolepsy,” 2013). Predominate symptoms of narcolepsy include: sleep attacks, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, sleepiness, and hypnagogic hallucinations. When a person falls asleep during the day, they have a sleep attack. Once they wake up, though, the person will feel completely awake. Cataplexy is when the body wakes up and becomes paralyzed, and sleep paralysis is when the body becomes paralyzed moments before falling asleep. Along with sleep paralysis, a person with narcolepsy will experience hypnagogic hallucinations, vibrant dreams that occur prior to falling asleep (Carlson,