Abstract
Narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder that typically begins at a young age, has the potential to greatly disrupt social, educational, and vocational development. Because of the nature of its symptoms (e.g., excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy, in particular), narcolepsy provides insights to mechanisms regarding human sleep regulation. Its universal symptom of inappropriate daytime sleepiness probably contributes most substantially to the resulting impaired quality of life that has been documented (1). A specific and intriguing sign of narcolepsy, experienced by 60% of patients, is cataplexy, or transient muscle weakness triggered by emotions. Other classic, but less specific symptoms include sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations. Disturbed nocturnal sleep is the most recent addition to the constellation of symptoms.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Broughton R, Guberman A, Roberts J (1984) Comparison of the psychosocial effects of epilepsy and narcolepsy/cataplexy: a controlled study. Epilepsia 25:423–433.
Silber M, Krahn L, Olson E, et al. (2002) The epidemiology of narcolepsy in Olmsted County, Minnesota: a population-based study. Sleep 25:197–202.
Aldrich M (1998) Diagnostic aspects of narcolepsy. Neurology 50(Suppl 1):S2–S7.
Krahn L, Black J, Silber M (2001) Narcolepsy: new understanding of irresistible sleep. Mayo Clin Proc 76:185–194.
Krahn L, Hansen M, Shepard J (2001) Pseudocataplexy. Psychosomatics 42:356–358.
Krahn L, Boeve B, Olson E, et al. (2000) A standardized test for cataplexy. Sleep Med 1:125–130.
Rubboli G, d’Orse G, Zaniboni A, et al. (2000) A video-polygraphic analysis of the cataplectic attack. Clin Neurophysiol 111(Suppl 2):S120–S128.
Shapiro B, Sptiz H (1976) Problems in the differential diagnosis of narcolepsy versus schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 133:1321–1323.
Overeem S, Mignot E, Gert van Dijk J, et al. (2001) Narcolepsy: clinical features, new pathophysiologic insights, and future perspectives. J Clin Neurophysiol 18:78–105.
Yoss R, Daly D (1957) Criteria for the diagnosis of the narcoleptic syndrome. Procedural Staff Meeting, Mayo Clinic vol. 32, pp. 320–328.
Parkes J, Fenton G, Struthers G, et al. (1974) Narcolepsy and cataplexy: clinical features, treatment and cerebrospinal fluid findings. Q J Med 43:525–536.
Mignot E, Hayduk R, Black J, et al. (1997) HLA DQBl*0602 is associated with cataplexy in 509 narcoleptic patients. Sleep 20:1012–1020.
Aldrich M, Chervin R, Malow B (1997) Value of the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) for the diagnosis of narcolepsy. Sleep 20:620–629.
Scammell T (2003) The neurobiology, diagnosis and treatment of narcolepsy. Ann Neurol 53:154–166.
Mignot E, Lammers G, Ripley B, et al. (2002) The role of cerebrospinal fluid hypocretin measurement in the diagnosis of narcolepsy and other hypersomnias. Arch Neurol 59:1553–1562.
Garma L, Marchand F (1994) Non-pharmacological approaches to the treatment of narcolepsy. Sleep 17:S97–S102.
Mitler M, Harsh J, Hirshkowitz M, et al. (2000) Long-term efficacy and safety of modafinil (Provigil) for the treatment of excessive daily sleepiness associated with narcolepsy. Sleep Med 1:231–243.
Larrosa O, de la Llave Y, Bario S, et al. (2001) Stimulant and anticataplectic effects of reboxetine in patients with narcolepsy: a pilot study. Sleep 24:282–285.
Lammers G, Arends J, Declerck A, et al. (1993) Gamma-hydroxybutyrate and narcolepsy: a double blind placebo-controlled study. Sleep 16:216–220.
Reference PD (2004) Xyrem Oral Solution. Orphan Medical, Minnetonka, MN.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Krahn, L.E. (2007). Clinical Features, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Narcolepsy. In: Pagel, J.F., Pandi-Perumal, S.R. (eds) Primary Care Sleep Medicine. Current Clinical Practice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-421-6_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-421-6_21
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-992-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-421-6
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)