Title : The neurological basis of narcolepsy and how It affects daily life
Abstract:
Extreme daytime drowsiness, cataplexy, and an early beginning of rapid eye movement sleep are all symptoms of the chronic neurologic illness narcolepsy. It can be distinguished from other conditions that can induce daytime drowsiness by its clinical signs and by sleep laboratory tests. The illness typically manifests during adolescence and lasts the entirety of a person's life. Specific HLAs that demonstrate the presence of a gene in the major histocompatibility complex on chromosome 6 that increases susceptibility to the condition is strongly linked to narcolepsy genetic predisposition. However, it is still unclear how these aberrations relate to the inherited determinants. A dysfunctional modulation of rapid eye movement sleep may be explained by altered monoaminergic and cholinergic activities, according to neurochemical investigations of human and canine narcolepsy. Tricyclic antidepressants and stimulants are used to treat cataplexy, which significantly improves symptoms in most patients but does not completely eliminate them. The most typical neurological cause of prolonged sleepiness is narcolepsy. Great strides in the research were made as a result of the revelation around 20 years ago that narcolepsy is brought on by a selective loss of the neurons that produce orexins, also known as hypocretins. Here, we go through what is currently known about how orexin neurons control sleep-wake behavior and the effects of orexin neuron loss. I will also discuss the growing body of research suggesting that narcolepsy is an autoimmune condition that may result from a T cell-mediated attack on the orexin neurons and discuss how these fresh viewpoints can guide more effective therapeutic strategies. A growing topic of research is the interaction between narcolepsy and psychiatric problems, but sadly, this relationship is little understood. Co-morbidity between the two is not rare. However, initial misdiagnoses of narcolepsy as a psychiatric disorder are common, which adds to the lengthy wait for a proper diagnosis and course of therapy. A crippling neurological disorder called narcolepsy has a significant risk of leading to social and professional disruption. Function decline may trigger the later emergence of mental disorders. Conversely, a decline in function and quality of life may follow the onset of psychiatric symptoms.
Audience Take Away
- The biological basis of the disorder Narcolepsy, and how it exactly affects the brain in which way. This may be implemented into studies in order to understand how sleep disorders may relate to each other, intertwine, and maybe even cause one another
- How Narcolepsy affects the quality of a person's life and how misdiagnoses could negatively affect someone's health alongside how misdiagnosing could lead to other mental disorders, which may deteriorate someone's health
- Helps understand what neurons are affected when it comes to the disorder narcolepsy, which may help find new ways of treatment in order to help keep the disorder under control
- The symptoms of narcolepsy and how it can be differentiated from other sleep disorders in order to conduct sccurate diagnoses
