Narcolepsy: To Sleep or Not to Sleep

Narcolepsy is one of those conditions that makes me grateful for my ability to stay awake during the day. It also can be unintentionally humorous and hard to spell.

1 in every 2000 Americans experience this, and despite how random it may be, it is very serious. Other symptoms may include insomnia, sleep paralysis and hallucinations. The last two are less common. Most people with Narcolepsy experience Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS).

Sleep paralysis is when the person awakes and can’t move temporarily. People who experience this are shocked, and begin to panic. This is very frightening once experienced the first time, although it doesn’t lead to permanent paralysis. Anybody can get Narcolepsy, and most cases occur sporadically and aren’t inherited.

Narcolepsy can be found on what I like to call “That Sucks rating”. I rank this a 6 our of 10 on an “That sucks rating”, with being starving a 7, dehydration an 8, and eyes being slowly picked out by ants/scorpions as a ten. 1 is being out of brownies.

People with narcolepsy are seriously disabled, usually not allowed to drive or hold certain jobs.

On a happier note, here is a cat falling asleep in front of a camera!

Sleepy Kitty

Narcolepsy is no joke (cats make everything more hilarious though), and in the future we’ll be looking forward to better treatment options. Now, there are therapies and medications available, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

-JD

RESEARCH CITATION:

http://www.medicinenet.com/narcolepsy/page8.htm