Imagine you are having a very heated conversation with your partner, and he sleeps. Visit the best sleep clinic for the information. Just like that. In the middle of a discussion he just dozes off. This isn’t an act. This is a sleep disorder, known as Narcolepsy.
What Is Narcolepsy?
Narcolepsy is a neurologic disorder, states sleep study center, that makes a person sleep at any time of the day. The person can be driving a car, having tea at a café or simply watching tv. One second, he’d be active and the other second, he’d be a sleep. This is how narcolepsy works. This happens because the brain is unable to make a difference between sleeping and waking up patterns or times. Hence it sleeps when it pleases. When the brain is unable to make that difference, certain things can happen:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Sleep attacks – sudden and without warning.
- Cataplexy – temporary loss of muscle control, this can result in collapsing. This happens when the patient is overwhelmed by emotions such as joy or anger.
- Sleep paralysis –inability to move or speak, its temporary and it may happen before falling asleep or after waking up.
- (Hypnopompic hallucinations) when falling asleep
- (Hypnogogic hallucinations) when waking up.
Narcolepsy doesn’t lead to any medical conditions as sleep apnea does, but it’s just as dangerous. A person with narcolepsy would find daily chores difficult, minor things like having a shower or driving a car can be very challenging. It’s advised to consult an expert at Sleep Clinic to get proper treatment.
What Is the Root Cause of Narcolepsy?
Sleep clinics have conducted a lot of studies and as per those studies, they have concluded that narcolepsy is caused when there is a deficiency the chemical hypocretin in the brain, which controls wakefulness of the body. What cause this deficiency of hypocretin? Well, sleep study centers came up with the answer that the deficiency occurs when the immune system wrongly attacks the cells that yield hypocretin. But this isn’t the case with every person who has narcolepsy. The other causes are still unknown.
How Do You Diagnose It?
- Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)
The easiest way to diagnose narcolepsy is to keep a keen eye on your sleep patterns, you may need to partner up for this. First you will need to map out a pattern, then you will need to rule out other sleep disorders, like sleep apnea or restless leg symptom. When all of the boxes have been ticked then check with a sleep consultant at Sleep clinics and let them run tests and officially diagnose you. The Sleep disorder expert will have you fill out a questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the conclusion from the answers of this questionnaire will determine whether you have the condition or not, or whether its extreme or not.
- Polysomnography
This test requires you to stay overnight at the Sleep study center, in which your sleep pattern will be observed with electrodes and bands when you will be asleep. Along with that, sensors will be attached to your legs.
- Testing Hypocretin Levels
Testing and measuring the levels of cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain is also a foolproof test to detect narcolepsy, as deficiency of hypocretin is major cause of narcolepsy. This test is done by the means of lumbar puncture.
- Multiple Sleep Latency Test
This is done under the supervision of a sleep disorder expert, who’d request you sleep at intervals and record how easily you fell asleep during the day on demand. Being a narcolepsy victim, you’d fall asleep very easily every time.
Treatment of Narcolepsy
Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure for narcolepsy in sleep specialist Baltimore. But it can be minimized with the aid of medication as well as changes in sleep pattern and exercises. It’s not always easy but you can train your brain to take managed naps between the day to sleep better at night. Also, you can make s very strict routine to go to bed at the same time every day. This way your brain will know the exact time to shut down and sleep. There are prescribed medicines such as daily tablets and capsules to help you stay up at day time and sleep at night time.
