Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a disorder that causes daytime sleepiness and affects more than 200,000 Americans, but can be helped with scheduled naps and drugs such as Provigil and Yohimbine. Those with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness as one of many symptoms. Narcoleptics may fall asleep while watching television, driving, eating, or even walking (Dement, 1995, pg. 45). Research on narcolepsy shows that the disorder seems to be a chemical imbalance of the sleep/wake cycle in the brain (…

…needed. People with narcolepsy have a tendency to lose their jobs because they cannot stay awake during their shifts. Tasks that require extreme concentration seem to help some people as well. Narcolepsy is a crippling disease that affects many people, but is not clearly well known. Despite this fact there are still ways to help the EDS, the cataplexy, the blackouts, and the hallucinations by scheduling naps and taking medicine (Causes, Incidence, Risk Factors, 2000, pg. 3).