Narcolepsy

About

Every 1,000 of 2,000 Americans are affected by narcolepsy (Brandt and Odle). If you’re one of those affected, know you are not alone. This blog post is meant to bring comfort and prepare those affected and familiar with others who have the condition, or even those that are just interested in narcolepsy, about the life that is set ahead of them and what they should expect to occur. The following information that will be

presented before you will include what the condition is, how it will affect daily life of both the family and the person in question who is impacted by the condition, with the addition of the top three symptoms that will most likely befall them. What not will be included will the causes, prevention, and cures. What motivated me to research narcolepsy was a documentary my mom had watched when I was around 8 or 10 years old. For some reason, fragments of memories containing scenes from the documentary continue to stay raw in my mind.

What is it?
Narcolepsy is a disorder concerning abnormal, sporadic sleeping patterns. Those affected struggle with uncontrollable fatigue and cataplexy. Narcolepsy is associated with REM. A person without the conditions usually has 90 minutes of non-REM & then REM however, those affected enter REM immediately (Brandt and Odle). With this disorder, you fight with sleepiness and sudden sleep attacks on a daily basis which, can

be inconvenient if you are out in public or with company. Additionally, it leaves you vulnerable to potential injuries that may be severe depending where you are and what you are doing. Cataplexy is a symptom where you suddenly lose muscle tone that temporarily lasts for a period of time. REM is the deep part of your sleep and normally, when when you first fall asleep you don’t enter a deep sleep until a certain period of time. In contrast, those with narcolepsy immediately enter REM during each sleep attack/episode.

How does it affect daily life?
Indeed, those affected can live life normally like everyone else with only little contrast due to their condition, however, narcolepsy can serve to be an inconvenience. When they fall asleep during an activity, they will wake up not being able to recollect any memory on what they were doing. In addition, overwhelming fatigue could overtake you at any given moment (Brandt and Odle). Living with this disease does not mean you will have to live in constant fear. By making alterations in your daily life routine, it’ll prove to be just a difference

in lifestyles compared to others. “The top 3 major symptoms of narcolepsy are cataplexy, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis.” Hallucinations occur before or even after sleep as a result of REM sleep. On the other hand, they will experience cataplexy, a sudden loss in muscle tone, before their sleep and will have sleep paralysis in the event of when they are about to wake up (Frey and Watson). By knowing the symptoms beforehand, it will help prepare you in the event that you do fall asleep somewhere aside from the safety of your own home or someone you trust, it will signal you to take precaution and be ready for what comes next.

How does it affect family?
Life can still be lived normally but nevertheless, those that become overwhelmed by the condition lose their sense of independence and will become dependent on those close to them and are often in need of their care. If their condition is extreme enough, they may even develop depression (Brandt and Odle). Family members must always look out for person in question. Their future will be affected due to struggles in social and academic life.

 Self-esteem is usually at low levels and patients run the risk of misdiagnosis and mistreatment which may trigger depression.The risk of misdiagnosis is a result of symptoms not appearing during a 10 - 15 year time span (Brandt and Laberge). Doctors must be cautious and aware of their patients’ condition and it’s severity, so make if patients must make it clear to their doctors on what they’re experiencing and address all their concerns to prevent the risk of receiving an incorrect diagnosis.

Additional Resources:

• National Institute of Health: Narcolepsy
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Narcolepsy

Works Cited:

• Brandt, Michelle Lee, and Monique Laberge. "Narcolepsy." The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2011. 1562-1565. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.
• Brandt, Michelle Lee, and Teresa G. Odle. "Narcolepsy." The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. 3rd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 2573-2574. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
• Due Date. Dir. Todd Phillips. Perf. Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. Warnerbros., 2010. DVD.
• Frey, Rebecca J., Stephanie M. Watson, and Ruth A. Wienclaw. "Sleep Disorders." The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2011. 1997-2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
• "Surprise!" Cartoon. Http://nawrot.psych.ndsu.nodak.edu/. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://nawrot.psych.ndsu.nodak.edu/Courses/465Projects08/Narcolepsy/Index.htm>
• "The Adventure of Narcolepsy Man." Comic strip. Freedomfromnarcolepsy.webs.com/. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. <http://nawrot.psych.ndsu.nodak.edu/Courses/465Projects08/Narcolepsy/Treatment_files/image001.jpg>

My Life in Words

Dear Junior Student:

My name is Karen and I would like to introduce myself to you in order for us to get to know one another and be able to converse with each other comfortably. Although we’re being introduced in a formal way and through our English teachers, I would like to have the chance to become a friend of yours aside from being acquaintances.

Outside of West, it’s always in my best interest to hang out with my friends or go to the gym whenever I can, but it’s always nice to just relax at home and enjoy some time alone once and awhile. During the summer, I did nothing but go outside swimming, or hanging out with my friends and family, and taking 3 day trips to each Toronto, Canada and New York City. I went to Chinatown to both cities and it was amazing because there aren't that many of my race in the area I live in. What’s important to me is trying my best everyday so that even if it’s just one person, I can help brighten their day just a little. Ever since junior year had started, I wanted to be more involved at West so I decided to join Key Club, Crushing Cancer Club, DECA and the Class of 2015 Board.

Times Square in New York City

Toronto, Canada

My strengths as a student mainly fall in Math or Science. Currently, my favorite class would have to be Business and Criminal Law. Although English is nice, I’m able to learn so many things about the legal system that I wasn't able to before and I am now able to understand more areas that relate to our government. My goals for junior year is to keep my grades up in honor roll and see if I’m able to be within the top 10 senior students next year and as well as, getting a high grade on the SAT's. This year I would like to learn more about life after high school since we are so close to the graduating and having to apply for colleges frighten me. So in order to feel more comfortable, I’d like to be more familiar and prepare myself for my future life.

As a reader, I tend to read slowly and steadily but as I get more into a book, my tempo increases and I’m not able to put down the book until either my eyes become sore or I've reached the end of the novel. The best novel I have read so far would have to be Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, due to it taking romance and fantasy to whole another level. My goal as a reader is to increase my literature difficulty into books that has a stronger vocabulary and may be for an older audience. My goal as a writer is to strengthen my sentence structure and to use more of a sophisticated vocabulary range.

I enjoyed writing this and I hope we are able to find something we have mutually in common with. I hope your junior year is filled with nothing but smiles and good times.

Sincerely,

Karen