Hypocretin Case Studies

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

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

Despite the fact that sleep paralysis has been occurring since the early 19th century, and possibly earlier, the main cause of it is unknown. This interests me as sleep paralysis has been found to have links with

Automatic behavior refers to the phenomenon when patients behave without conscious awareness during microsleep episodes. For example, a patient could be conversing with someone and slip in a microsleep episode. The patient would trail off in the middle of their sentence and start a completely new topic, unrelated to what they were initially talking about. Cataplexy is arguably the most important symptom of Narcolepsy as it indicates the cause of Narcolepsy. Cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone and is often mistaken for a seizure. A trigger for an episode of cataplexy is any strong enough emotion such as laughter, fear, sadness, or happiness. An interesting fact to note is that a certain group of neurons in the brainstem which halt muscle activity during REM sleep become inactive during cataplectic attacks. Sleep paralysis is something that everybody experiences on a daily basis while asleep but narcoleptics experience sleep paralysis before falling asleep and after waking up. Some narcoleptics also experience hallucinations that may accompany sleep paralysis. These hallucinations are usually vivid,

People with seizure disorder usually have problems with their sleep. Daytime sleepiness, lack of energy and drowsiness are frequently seen in epileptic patients. Baseline electrical activity has been vastly studied in epilepsy. Seizures can be either partial or generalized. Based on the area of the brain triggered by epileptic waves, any kind of motor or sensory abnormalities can happen in partial seizure. If the whole brain cortex is triggered, generalized tonic-clonic seizure can happen, which is the classic shaking of the body and loss of consciousness. Generalized seizures may be followed by a post-ictal period in which the patient will be heavily drowsy and may experience memory loss for a short amount of time. It has been shown that epileptic patients can reach threshold potentials more readily than the normal population and lack of sleep can be a trigger for causing a seizure [1]. The circadian rhythm, synchronizing role of thalamo-cortical networks, and reduced intracortical inhibition have been suggested as underlying physiologic factors elicited by sleep deprivation that make a patient more prone to seizure activity.

1. Narcolepsy is a rare, and chronic sleep disorder where the affected have severe or overwhelming daytime sleepiness. Fewer than 200,000 cases a year.

Fatal insomnia, categorized as either familial or sporadic, is an acknowledged rare form of prion disease. Patients express progressively debilitating symptoms which include insomnia, dysautonomia, endocrine disturbance, cognitive dysfunction, and motor abnormalities. A distinct feature of fatal insomnia is the selective atrophy of the thalamus. This and other known cellular changes in fatal insomnia illuminate the diverse functionality of particular brain areas. Similar symptomatic complications are expressed in patients suffering from non-fatal chronic insomnia and the anatomical links to such pathology have been explored. Such exploration helps to outline possible mechanisms of action in fatal insomnia and potential treatment therapies. Determining curative therapy for familial insomnia may rely on understanding the functionality of the thalamus, limbic system,

Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is considered to be weakness and rapid fatigue of any of the muscles that you are able to control. It is caused by a breakdown in the usual communication between nerves and muscles. Narcolepsy is a continuing sleep disorder described by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and unexpected attacks of sleep. Many with narcolepsy find it very hard to stay awake for long amount of time, regardless of the environments.

Nuvigil was requested to treat idiopathic hypersomnia related to Lewy body dementia. Per the prescriber, the enrollee’s condition was closely related to narcolepsy and the 2 disorders were treated in the same manner.

Yutaka Honda and his colleagues proved that narcolepsy, which is a sleep disorder that makes it hard for sufferers to determine or control when to sleep or stay awake is associated to Human Leukocyte Antigen (H L A). Although the hypocretin is a substance in the brain that helps people stay awake, with the case of these patients it has been damaged by an infection which is autoimmune, but there was not enough evidence to support the claims.

Roddick and Cherney also mentioned that Insomnia alludes to the powerlessness to nod off or to stay snoozing. It can be created by jet lag, stress, and nervousness, hormones, or stomach related issues. Insomnia can likewise bring about weight pick up, trouble concentrating, fractiousness, and melancholy. They likewise spoke somewhat about Sleep apnea, which is described as a delay in breathing amid rest, regard this as a genuine therapeutic condition since it can bring about the body to take in less oxygen. It can likewise make you wake up amid the night. Narcolepsy is generally known as a "sleep assaults" that happen amid the day. Which it can make individuals feel to a great degree tired and nod off with no notice. The turmoil can likewise

Other factors that may also decrease episodes or severity of narcolepsy include diet, exercise and reduction in anxiety and depression. Furthermore, there is substantial evidence for the use of certain medications in narcolepsy. Although these medications hold risk the benefits outweigh the risks. For example, Methylphenidate can improve

Fatal insomnia needs development in therapy from one that is supportive to one that is curative. Discovering a solution to this problem will likely depend on the thorough understanding of how pathology corresponds with presentation. It is for this reason

Fatigue: fatigue may have multiple causing factors; causes other than PBC should be considered, and these include anemia ,hypothyroidism ,depression and sleep disorder ,an association between fatigue and altered sleep in particular daytime sleepiness has been reported in patients with PBC. Modafinil , for the treatment of narcolepsy which is an approved drug , reported with significant benefits in patients in PBC with fatigue. At doses of 100-200 mg/day significant improvement in fatigue was

This report is on Sleep Paralysis, a phenomenon in which a person either during falling asleep or awakening, temporarily experiences an inability to move, speak, or react. This report will explain the definition and cause of sleep paralysis, identifying the transitional state of actually being asleep and categorizing traits inherited which may trigger an episode. I will also express the symptoms through recorded experiences, including the process of how the human body composes them. Finally, I’ll discuss how to deal with it. Providing self-taught counters that may diminish the severity of the episodes or the simple understanding of how to comply with the disorder.