Narcolepsy is a known as sheep disease. Here you will learn everything you should know about it.
Explanation and symptoms: What is narcolepsy?
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that leads to disturbances of sleep-wakefulness. People with this type of sleep disorder (hypersomnia) experience extreme tiredness throughout the day and may experience sudden sleep attacks. It all muscles slacken (muscle failure = “cataplexy”), which can lead to falls. In addition, sleep disturbances often occur during sleep, so that the actual sleep is not perceived as restful. So far, there are only assumptions about how the disease arises. Narcolepsy is considered incurable, there is no direct therapy for continuous drowsiness.
Theoretically, these sleep disorders can break out at any age, but in many patients they appear for the first time between 15 and 30 years. It is estimated that approximately 40,000 people in Germany are affected by narcolepsy. The quality of life can be very impaired by the unpredictable sleep attacks, for example, the bad sleep can lead to hallucinations. Life itself is not shortened by narcolepsy.
What happens with narcolepsy in the brain?
It is not yet fully understood what effects narcolepsy has on the brain. However, new studies show that in the brain water of the narcolepsy compared to healthy people a lower level of the messenger hypocretin is present. This messenger is involved in sleep-wake regulation. It is believed that in narcolepsy patients, the cells responsible for hypocretin production are falsely attacked and destroyed by the immune system.
Extreme drowsiness: What are the causes of sleep medicine for narcolepsy?
The exact cause of sleeping sickness is unknown so far, but there are various assumptions as to what might be involved in the development of narcolepsy. These include:
- Swine flu vaccine (according to one study, there is a link, but vaccine has proven to be the actual cause of narcolepsy)
- strong (mental) stress
- Bacterial infections, eg. With streptococci rarerare
- Craniocerebral trauma
- tumors
- Diseases of the central nervous system
Treatment: What can you do with narcolepsy?
Even if narcolepsy itself is not curable, one can alleviate the symptoms after a successful diagnosis. For example, there are various medicines for extreme daytime sleepiness. Those affected are also often recommended therapies in which so-called coping strategies are developed. By means of this, for example, the sudden sleep attacks of narcolepsy should be prevented as much as possible.