by Dean Traylor

Created on: February 14, 2010   Last Updated: February 22, 2010

Even a good night’s sleep can’t keep certain people from nodding off during the day. It doesn’t matter what time, place or situation these particular people are in; they will fall asleep without warning and remain so for a few seconds or  minutes. And, for the people suffering from this condition known as narcolepsy, there’s little they can do when it strikes.

First coined by the by the French physician Jean-Baptiste-Edouard Gelineau, - and derived from the compound Greek words “nark (numbness, stupor)” and “lepsie (seizure, attack)” - the condition known as narcolepsy was used to describe people who chronically fell asleep during the day for several short durations.

Today, it is known as a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain’s inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. It is characterized by three major symptoms: cataplexy (the sudden loss of voluntary muscle tone); vivid hallucinations during sleep; and brief episodes of total paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep.

In many cases, a person with this condition will experience moments of erratic sleep patterns during the night, as well as the day. At night, many will experiences frequent awakenings or disruptions in their REM sleep patterns. During the day, without warning, they will fall asleep for a short duration. Often, the pattern of sleep is a few seconds or minutes long. Rarely, but not impossible, some will be sleep around an hour or more. Often, these patterns will occur several times during the day.

There are no definite causes given for this condition. However, research into the matter revealed that certain abnormalities or mutations in certain genes or brain functions have been shown to be present in an individual suffering from narcolepsy.

One area that may be a factor in the cause of the condition is the human leukocyte antigen (HLA). HLA is a group of genes located on chromosome 6. It is believed to be related to immune system function in humans. Individuals with narcolepsy have abnormal levels of HLA in their blood.

Another area of concern is in the brain. Individuals with narcolepsy have had the presence of abnormalities in the structure and function of a particular group of nerve cells called hypocretin neurons. This group of nerve cells is located in the hypothalamus of the brain.

Its function is to secrete neurotransmitter substances called hypocretin; it is a chemical that transmit messages to other cells.

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