How Is Narcolepsy: Helpful Or Harmful?

Parasomnia Parasomnia refers to a wide variety of disruptive, sleep-related events or, "disorders of arousal." These behaviors and experiences occur usually while sleeping, and most are often infrequent and mild. They may however happen often enough to become so bothersome that medical attention should be sought out. "Parasomnias are disorders characterized by abnormal behavior or physiological events occurring in association with sleep stages, or sleep-wake transitions."(DSM pg. 435)

What is Narcolepsy? Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. At various times throughout the day, people with narcolepsy experience fleeting urges to sleep. If the urge becomes overwhelming, individuals will fall asleep for periods lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. In rare cases, some people may remain asleep for an hour or longer. In addition to excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), three other major symptoms frequently characterize narcolepsy: cataplexy, or the sudden loss of voluntary muscle tone; vivid hallucinations during sleep onset or upon awakening; and brief episodes of total paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep. Narcolepsy is not

There are many reasons as to how and why sleep disturbances form. Sleep disturbances are caused by physical pain, medical issues, environmental use such as alcohol, stress, and jet lag. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth begins to sleep walk when a doctor comes to see her. “In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other actual

Then you will move into stage two which includes sleep spindles and K complexes. Sleep spindles are very short bursts of brain activity, and K complexes are single high voltage strikes of brain activity. Also, in stage two delta brain waves start to slow function of the brain preparing for stage three and four. Stage three and stage four i will talk about as one because they are very similar and do similar things. These stages are referred to slow wave sleep because your brain is in it’s slowest speed of function. In stage three you brain is between 20 and 50 percent delta waves, from 50 to 100 percent delta waves you are considered to be in stage four. While in stage four people may experience sleep walking and other muscular movement without knowing so. Noises as loud as 90 decibels may not be able to wake the person from sleep. During REM sleep which is after NREM sleep the brain is more active and alert. This is where most dreams occur because your brain is active but you are still sleeping. After the short 15 minute period of REM sleep you will start over with stage one of NREM these cycles normally take 90 minutes to complete. Activity during sleep can come at any point but is most common in REM or stage four of

Narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a permanent sleep disorder that gets worse with age. It is estimated that about 40,000 to 135,000 people in the United States have narcolepsy. (Narcolepsy, 2002). Most people who have narcolepsy are often times misdiagnosed because the symptoms, especially if noticed at the beginning stages, are very similar to other sleep disorders. Some of the symptoms that go along with narcolepsy are excessive sleepiness, especially during the daytime or when sleep is inappropriate, cataplexy which is when a person suddenly looses control of their muscles, sleep paralysis which is when the person is unable to move for a short period of time after they wake up from sleep, and hypnagogic hallucinations which is very

Narcolepsy is defined as a condition characterized by an extreme tendency to fall asleep whenever in relaxing surroundings. It is a brain disorder that causes poor control of sleep and wake cycles. People that have narcolepsy usually experience sudden sleep attacks. These sleep attacks can last from a few seconds to minutes. Narcolepsy is classified by extreme daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, hypnologic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. In this paper the focus is on the physiological effects of Narcolepsy on an individual, as well as explains treatments and recent research studies being made today and in the future.

Introduction Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness caused by a disturbance in sleep/wake cycles. It affects men and women equally, and it typically takes up to ten years after onset to get diagnosed. Onset usually occurs in the teen years, however it can also develop in children or adults. There is typically a peak incidence at age 15, and a smaller peak at age 36. Globally, narcolepsy affects approximately 1 in 2000 people, however for unknown reasons, the rate in Japan is nearly twice as high.

There are two types of narcolepsy: • Narcolepsy with cataplexy – Cataplexy is the sleep attack that causes a sudden loss of muscle tone or in some cases paralysis to all limbs, yet fully conscious and awake. Triggers are not always known, but sometimes related to strong emotions like anger, happiness, or surprise.

Narcolepsy (narco meaning “numbness” and lepsy meaning “seizure”) consists primarily of attacks of irresistible sleepiness in the daytime. The patients day is broken up by a series of brief and repetitive sleep attacks, perhaps even two hundred attacks in a single day. These transient, strong attacks may last from a few seconds to as much as thirty minutes, with an average spell lasting two minutes. When a patient suddenly gets the urge to sleep, it is practically impossible for them to ignore that they are suffering an attack, in any situation. These sleep attacks happen uncontrollably, and in any situation or place. People with narcolepsy typically fall asleep suddenly, on the job, in conversation, standing up, and even while eating, driving, or making love. (Matzen 2016, p.1) Many individuals with Narcolepsy are extremely sleepy all day, regardless of how much sleep they got the night before. One of the more prominent and troubling features of Narcolepsy is Cataplexy. Cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone that causes the person to quickly collapse. More than seventy percent of people with Narcolepsy suffer from Cataplexy. Cataplexy may consist of all the muscles or only a select few, so the severity may range from total collapse to the ground to partial collapse of a limb or the jaw. The Cataplectic (patient) sometimes remains

Running head: PROJECT 1 - SLEEP DISORDERS Sleep Terrors Table of Contents Introduction p 3 Body p 3 Definition p 3 Overview p 3 Diagnosis p 5 Symptoms p 5 Treatment, Prognosis, and Prevention p 6 Role of the Polysomnographic Technologist p 7 Polysomnograpic Record p 8 Summary/Conclusion p 9 References p 10 Sleep Terrors Sleep terrors are commonly known by a few terms, including sleep terrors, night terrors, sleep terror disorder, and pavor nocturnus. The person having a sleep terror will awaken from a dream crying or screaming, which may last for minutes. The person is difficult to awaken and confused. There is no recollection of the

Night Terrors Madi Lew Psychology 2200 Troy University September 11, 2017 Night terrors, also known as sleep terrors, are episodes of screaming, intense fear and flailing while still asleep (Mayo Clinic, 2017). Sleep terrors are considered a parasomnia, a disorder characterized by abnormal behavior of the nervous system while sleeping, and are often paired with sleepwalking, which is also a parasomnia. They are characterized by frequent recurrent episodes of intense crying and fear during sleep (Web MD, 2017).

Narcolepsy is a chronic brain disorder that causes a person to fall asleep at any time of the day. It also affects a person’s sleep habits at night. They tend to wake more often during nighttime sleep. A normal person sleeps for about 8 hours and enters non-rapid eye movement sleep, and then transitions into rapid eye movement sleep. A narcoleptic person enters rapid eye movement sleep within a few minutes of falling asleep. Narcolepsy can occur during daily activities such as when a person is driving, talking, playing a game, eating, or at work or school. Narcolepsy is caused by low levels of the neurotransmitter hypocretin. A person is diagnosed with narcolepsy with a clinical examination and exhaustive medical history. There is not a cure

Lidia Wasowicz declares in her 2004 article, “Sleep: Just as Important as Exercise, Diet,” that “the symptoms of narcolepsy can begin at one's early or mid-life. Most cases tend to range between the ages of fifteen to twenty-five

Sleepwalking Somnambulism, or sleepwalking, belongs to a group of parasomnias. This disorder of arousal is characterized by complex motor behaviors initiated during stages 3 and 4 of non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep (slow-wave sleep) (3). Behaviors during sleepwalking episodes can vary greatly. Some episodes are limited to sitting up, fumbling and getting dressed, while others include more complex behaviors such as walking, driving a car, or preparing a meal (2). After awakening, the sleepwalker usually has no recollection of what has happened and may appear confused and disoriented. The behaviors performed while sleepwalking are said to be autonomous automatisms. These are nonrelfex actions performed without conscious volition and

Sleep disorders have always surrounded me through family and friends. though I never suffered with any sort of sleeping disorder, I was well aware of how unnerving it can be toothless who suffer from it. I did not know all of the different types there were, and was intrigued when reading chapter three of my psychology book. I had assumed that nigh terrors, which I used to think were the same as nightmares, were over exaggerations of a person’s scary dream. Sleepwalking also held interesting facts that I didn’t know prior. Having a best friend who occasionally sleepwalks, I was always interested in why she would seldom remember both walking and talking. I also appreciated learning about sleep apnea because my father used to struggle with it and would worry my mom about his breathing when he was asleep.