What is narcolepsy?

Narcolepsy is a chronic, life-long, neurological sleep disorder at the best addiction treatment center in Islamabad that usually appears in your late teens or early twenties and is characterized initially by excessive what are the treatments for Jet Lag Disorder daytime tiredness? These chemicals are known as hypocretins or orexins, and studies indicate that more than ninety percent of narcolepsy sufferers either lack or show deficient levels of these chemicals.

What causes narcolepsy?

The cause of narcolepsy remains something of a mystery. However, two recent studies have suggested that there is a strong possibility that it arises in people deficient in two related chemicals typically found in the hypothalamus - an area deep inside the base of the brain that regulates many functions, including sleep.

For some considerable time now, it has been known that there is a connection between narcolepsy and a specific type of human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a genetically determined protein found on the surface of white blood cells, forming part of your body's immune system. However, the exact nature of this connection has yet to be understood.

It is suggested that HLA may play an essential role in an autoimmune disease responsible for destroying the body's hypocretins or orexins. In other words, a disorder within the immune system causes the body to attack itself (in this case, its hypocretins or orexins) rather than perform its normal function of attacking foreign infections.

Whether or not this will prove to be the cause of narcolepsy is yet to be seen, but those studying the condition are satisfied that they are now close to isolating the cause.

Who suffers from narcolepsy?

No particular group is more susceptible to narcolepsy than another, and it is seen in men and women of all ages. The first signs of narcolepsy usually appear during your teenage years or early twenties, but cases can arise in children and adults later.

One particular characteristic of this disease is that it is often several years after the onset of the disease (typically about 15 years) before it is diagnosed. It is also one of today's most commonly underdiagnosed conditions. For example, although about 50,000 sufferers in the United States are diagnosed with narcolepsy, it is estimated that the actual number of sufferers is closer to 200,000.

How is narcolepsy diagnosed?

In the minority of cases where all four significant symptoms are present, narcolepsy sleep disorder is relatively easy to diagnose in other instances; however possible sufferers are usually asked to keep a 'sleep diary' for a period of two to three weeks, recording not only details of their sleeping habits, but also such things as their diet and any medication that they take. They will then usually attend a sleep clinic where they will stay overnight, with their sleep activity being recorded. The following day, they will often be asked to undergo further tests. The two most commonly used tests are:

Polysomnogram. A polysomnogram test measures a number of your body's activities as you pass through the various stages of sleep so that these can be compared to results expected from someone experiencing a regular sleep pattern. Those bodily activities recorded include:

• Electrical brain activity. Electroencephalogram.
• Electrical heart activity. Electrocardiogram.
• Muscle movement. Electromyogram.
• Eye movement. Electrooculogram.
• Respiration. Oral thermister or nasal pressure transducer.

Multiple Sleep Latency Test. This test is usually carried out immediately following a polysomnogram and tests the time to fall asleep during the day.

 Four or five naps will be scheduled throughout the day at about two hourly intervals, and the time taken to fall asleep will be measured. The time to fall asleep in a normal subject will be between ten and twenty minutes. In the case of a narcolepsy sufferer, however, sleep will usually occur within less than five minutes.

It had previously been thought that narcolepsy could be diagnosed using a blood test to look for the presence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA). The type of HLA associated with narcolepsy is not unique to the condition, and therefore, HLA typing should not be used for diagnosis.