Summary
Narcolepsy, also known as a narcoleptic syndrome, is a neurological disorder, which is characterized by excessive and chronic drowsiness attacks. The sleep disorder, causes excessive sleeping during day hours, with drowsiness persisting for several minutes or seconds (Bhattarai & Sumerall, 2017). The frequency of the drowsiness phases varies in in the number of incidences within a single day. The disorder also causes an alteration in the night sleeping patterns. Narcolepsy may be type one or type two, depending on severity or diagnosis.
Symptoms Overview
Narcolepsy is characterized by excessive sleep during the day hours. People with this disorder usually experience sleep attacks and can fall asleep anytime, without warning, or anywhere. For instance, they may get sleep attacks when talking or working, and this may result in sleeping for a few minutes or even hours. The increased phases of daytime sleeping reduce the patient’s ability to concentrate, while also reducing the effective functioning of a patient.
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Narcolepsy also leads to a sudden loss in the muscle tonnage. Cataplexy may cause numerous physical changes within the bodies of patients, which may include weakening of muscles and blurred speech (Bhattarai & Sumerall, 2017). Cataplexy is usually uncontrollable and is caused by increased emotions such as laughter and excitement among people affected by narcolepsy.
People with narcolepsy also experience other symptoms like hallucinations, whereby they can be hypnagogic or hypnopompic. Changes in the rapid eye movement sleep may also be recorded among narcolepsy patients. Sleep paralysis among narcolepsy patients involves a temporary inability to speak or move when waking or falling asleep. Insomnia and restless legs syndrome also show in people with narcolepsy.
Prevalence
The prevalence of narcoleptic type one is 14 for every 100,000 people, with the number being 65.4 for every population of 100,000 people (Slowik, Collen & Yow, 2020). The disease is highly dominant among teens and youths in the early twenties and shows a 50% greater dominance among the female population across the US.
Causes
Numerous cases of narcolepsy are caused by the lack of hypocretin in the brain, a chemical that regulates sleep. The deficiency is caused by the immune system’s attack on hypocretin producing parts of the brain. The disorder may also be inherited due to the genetic disposition recorded among family members with the condition. Hormonal changes during menopause and the puberty stages may also lead to narcolepsy. Major psychological stresses may also contribute to the condition (Slowik et al. 2020). Change of sleep patterns, flu vaccines, swine flu, and streptococcal infections may also lead to the development of the narcoleptic disease.
Common Misconceptions
There are numerous misconceptions about narcoleptic sleep disorder. The most common misconception about this disease is that people with it are just in need of sleep. The accurate response to this misconception is that patients require treatment, not just sleep. People believe that those with narcolepsy can fall asleep without any warning. In essence, sleep urges accompanied by signs like loss of muscle control or feeling tired (Bhattarai & Sumerall, 2017). People also have a misconception that narcoleptic people fall frequently. The fact is that falling rarely occurs among those with narcolepsy. There is also a misconception that narcolepsy is rare, but in reality, the narcolepsy is the most common disorder associated with sleep in the US. People also see narcolepsy as a non-serious condition. In reality, the disorder is severe and is extremely dangerous without proper management.
Impact on cognitive processes
Narcolepsy causes numerous impacts on the cognitive and memory aspects of people. People with narcolepsy often report problems with concentration, cognitive dysfunctions, and frequent memory losses. Narcoleptic people have impaired executive and attention controls, and report increased demands for attentional resources. In the memory aspect, narcoleptic people encoding of information is impaired, due to the changed sleeping patterns, and the reduction in non-REM sleep (Slowik et al. 2020). Narcolepsy may also affect the decision-making process under ambiguity, with evidence showing possible impacts on amygdala alteration. Generally, the changes in the cognitive aspects of the body are caused by the alteration of sleeping patterns, and functional and direct structural consequences of deficiencies in hypocretin.
Physiological Impacts
The narcoleptic disorder causes severe life effects on the bodies of patients. The disease leads to the weakening of muscles, thus affecting a person’s physical activity. When performing physiological activities like laughing or working, one may experience an increased urge for sleep (Bhattarai & Sumerall, 2017). The disease affects the brain system by altering signal relaying within the body. Hypothalamus is responsible for the production of hypocretin, which maintains and activates the brain’s signal coordination. Narcolepsy thus results when these hypocretin cells are dead, causing people increased need for sleep.
Proposed Medical and Psychological Treatments
Medical treatment of narcolepsy involves the administration of stimulants, which help people with the condition in staying awake. Modafinil and armodafinil drugs are commonly used as stimulants for treating this disorder. However, stimulant medication result in side effects like anxiety, headache, and nausea. Antidepressants are also used in the treatment of narcolepsy. Narcolepsy’s traditional treatments include psycho-stimulants, which were used since the discovery of the disease (Bhattarai & Sumerall, 2017). The psycho-stimulant drugs include; methylphenidate and amphetamine. The psychological options for treating the condition include; scheduled naps, which help in reducing the sleep attacks during the day and sleep satiation. Imagery rehearsal therapies can also be used in the treatment of the condition. Stimulus control and systematic desensitization have also been used in fighting this condition.
References
Bhattarai, J. & Sumerall, S. (2017). Current and Future Treatment options for Narcolepsy: A Review. NCBI. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5611768/
Slowik, J. M. Collen J. F. & Yow, A. G. (2020). Narcolepsy. NCBI. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459236/
