Do you fall asleep suddenly, or at inappropriate times?
4-6% of first-degree relatives of a Narcoleptic have Narcolepsy symptoms. 1 in 2000 people in the world suffers from this disorder. Narcolepsy is a disorder of unknown etiology most commonly characterized by excessive sleepiness. There are four main symptoms of Narcolepsy that make up what is known as the Narcolepsy Tetrad. This includes:
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Cataplexy
Sleep Paralysis
Cataplexy
Hypnogogic Hallucinations
Excessive Sleepiness can be identified by the tendency to fall asleep easily. People with Narcolepsy often experience “sleep attacks” when they are overcome with an irresistible desire to sleep, often in inappropriate places or times. Frequent daytime napping will often rejuvenate the Narcoleptic person on a very short-term basis. Excessive sleepiness can even result in amnestic episodes with automatic behavior. Memory disturbances as well as impaired concentration and visual disturbances may indicate that one should be evaluated for excessive daytime sleepiness and Narcolepsy.
Cataplexy is characterized by a bilateral loss of muscle tone provoked by strong emotion. Episodes usually last only seconds to minutes in duration. The weakness can be a mild sensation of weakness with head droop or facial sagging, to complete limb weakness with a resulting fall.
Sleep Paralysis consists of an inability to perform voluntary movements, which occur at sleep onset (hypnogogic) or at awakenings from sleep to wakefulness. The person may be somewhat aware of his or her surroundings, but is unable to move or speak. Sleep paralysis can be frightening, but is not dangerous.
Finally, Hypnogogic hallucinations are vivid dream-like experiences that occur when a person is drowsy. The hallucinations may involve disturbing images or sounds, such as strange animals or prowlers. These hallucinations are frightening because the person is partly awake but has no control over the events. The dreams can also be upsetting if they are mistaken for hallucinations caused by mental illness.
Diagnosis for Narcolepsy is based on history of symptoms and a daytime sleep study showing short sleep onset and short REM sleep onset. Although there is no cure for Narcolepsy, people with this disorder can have a significantly improved quality of life with proper treatment.
