Abnormal Psychology
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. This disorder causes a number of symptoms that will be discussed further in depth later on but they are, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. Scientists and researchers believe that the cause of narcolepsy is a genetic mutation. This disorder can cause severe disruption to a person's daily life and routine and can be a cause of harm to the person with the disorder as well as those around him/her. There have been case studies and animal research and testing to further understand this disorder its cause and possible cures or medication. Which as of 2014 there is medication to help those with the disorder but there is no cure. To better understand this disorder we have to go more in depth on the topics I have touched on and more in depth on the disorder in general. We will be investigating all the above mentioned topics and more.
To figure out what causes narcolepsy scientists did experiments on animals. Specifically dogs and mice. These animals had narcolepsy and upon investigation there was a genetic mutation that was noticed throughout some of the animals that made them narcoleptic. The dogs that had the mutation also had a “deficiency in a receptor for hypocientiny the neurotransmitter that blocks communication between brain cells, particularly messages about when the body should be awake.” (R. Ballie magazine article) The scientists found that if they injected the dogs with hypocretin it could reverse narcolepsy. This is a good but does not mean that there is cure for the disorder because humans are much more complex than dogs and mice.
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...m when you have a lack of sleep. It can be both frustrating and stressful for the person with narcolepsy to lay awake at night and not be able to sleep. On top of this they are tired most of the day and take naps to try and help stay awake. But again when a narcoleptic does sleep they have abnormal sleep cycles. To help those with this disorder they can be prescribed medicine to help you sleep at night or medicine to help you stay awake during the day. Changing the chemicals in the brain to correct itself to when to feel tired or when to feel awake. Forcing yourself to stay awake during the day and not take naps can help make you to be more tired at night and help put you on a more normal sleep schedule. Overall if left untreated this can be a dangerous and annoying disorder to have but with the right medication it can get better and you can live a normal life.
THESIS STATEMENT: Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that has a specific medical definition, life-changing symptoms, and there are ways in how people treat it.
Have you ever pulled two all nighters in a row? If you have then you know that afterwards, during the day, you drift off to sleep very easily. You feel physically and mentally exhausted and your body tells you that you need to rest. This is a normal reaction by the body to the lack of sleep. This however is something that people suffering from narcolepsy must deal with on a daily basis even when they have had a full nights sleep. One of the major symptoms they suffer from is overwhelming daytime sleepiness.
Nothing feels quite like waking up refreshed and ready to tackle the day ahead of you. However, while we all know how important sleep is, many of us still struggle to fall asleep at night. Moreover, I am willing to wager that many of us also always seem to wake up fatigued, no matter how long we have slept. If you have trouble sleeping it is possible that you may have one of several common sleeping disorders.
Insomnia, from the Latin "in" (not) and "somnus" (sleep), is a condition characterized by difficulty falling asleep, and/or staying asleep. Insomnia can result in getting up in the morning feeling unrested and experiencing drowsiness during the day. It is not identified as a disease or diagnosis, but a symptom that causes a person to feel irritable, sleepy, and have ...
Chronic sleep loss is becoming more common in modern culture and less restricted to sleep-deprived diseases such as insomnia. Suggested to be the result of a number car, industrial, medical, and other occupational accidents, sleep deprivation is beginning to be recognized as a public concern. As a result, the Centers for Disease Control
Hirshkowitz, M., & Smith, P. B. (2004). Sleep disorders for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub.
While he did not use the word "narcolepsy," he wrote about patients experiencing "a sleepy disposition who suddenly fall fast asleep” (White). After nearly two centuries, two German doctors named Westphal and Fisher studied patients who would randomly fall asleep. These patients also experienced other symptoms such as dream-like hallucinations while they were awake and "automatic behavior," which caused them to perform daily tasks while they were still asleep (White). The symptoms they studied long ago are the symptoms of narcolepsy that we now know today. Westphal was the first doctor who clinically described narcolepsy as a physical disorder due to loss of muscle control. The term “narcolepsy” was first discovered in 1880 by Jean Baptiste E. Gelineau, a neuropsychiatrist in France, who recognized a group of patients who had irresistible sleep triggered by strong emotions (Khran, 2001). To create the name of this sleep disorder, he combined the Greek words, narke (numbness, stupor) and lepsis (an attack, seizure). In 1902, the term “cataplexy”, was created by a physician named Loëwenfeld. Then finally in 1957, Mayo clinic doctors Robert Yoss and David Daly officially united the four classic narcolepsy symptoms (White). The four symptoms are what add up to make narcolepsy a unique sleeping
Sleep hygiene and stimulus control are non-medical treatments for insomnia that includes simple steps that may improve
According to the history, Sleep Paralysis was classified as nightmare, a term that evolved into our modern definition by Samuel Johnson. It was widely considered to be the work of the demons, which were thought to sit on the chest of the sleeper. Various forms of magic and spiritual possession were also advanced as causes. But Sleep Paralysis can occur in the state between REM sleep, where dreaming occurs, and waking up. During REM sleep, the brain paralyses the body in order to keep us away from carrying out our dream-actions that could harm ourselves somehow. At times, our brain does not put off these dreams or the paralysis that comes along with them, resulting in a potentially terrifying experience. Sleep paralysis had been linked to disorders such as migraines, anxiety disorders, and obstructive sleep apnea. But when linked to another disorder, sleep paralysis commonly occurs together with the neurological sleep disorder called Narcolepsy. David McCarty, a sleep researcher at Louisiana State Health University, explained that in sleep paralysis, two of the key REM sleep components are presen...
Kales, A. (1972). The evaluation and treatment of sleep disorders : Pharmacological and psychological studies. In M. Chase (ed.)The Sleeping Brain. Los Angeles : Brain Information Service.
Exploringn a Neurobiological Theory of Dreaming Neurobiological theory of dreaming focuses on the brain and the nervous system. The activation synthesis theory which is one of the theories put forward by Hobson and Mcarley (1998) said sleep is controlled by mechanism in the brainstem. When activated this inhibits activity in the skeletal muscles and increases activity in the forebrain. This theory seems dreaming as an automatic part of the sleep process that may have no significance beyond the need to organize the material into coherent forms. Hobson points out that injection of a drug that increases the action of acetylcholine both increases REM sleep and dreaming.
Sleep paralysis is a condition that occurs at either the onset or upon awakening of sleep. The medical terms for the two forms of sleep paralysis are hypnogogic and hypnopompic (1). When a person falls asleep, the body secretes hormones that relax certain muscles within the body, causing it to go into paralysis. Doing this prevents the body from acting out a person's dream, which could result in an injury. Sleep paralysis generally runs within one's family or in those who suffer from narcolepsy (2), but there is currently no explanation for why some people get it while others do not.
The phenomenon of sleep paralysis can be a frightening experience: many who suffer can feel tremendous anxiety and fear, even though occurrences are considered as harmless as a bad dream. The disorder does not discriminate on the basis of race or gender, but age sometimes is a factor. Treatment for sleep paralysis is limited; in general, doctors treat the disorders linked to sleep paralysis such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy. Sleep paralysis continues to be one of the many mysteries of the human brain, which science will continue to investigate.
In this paper, it is focused on the basics of fatal familial insomnia (FFI) which is an autosomal dominant condition and the researchers of this paper were specifically focusing on the molecular genetics of the condition. The typical age for the condition to develop is between 48 -59 and as of when this study was published 15 families with no relations have been identified to have this ailment. Some general symptoms of this condition are that the patient is unable to pay attention without one sort of stimulus. In some extreme cases for this condition, it can result in death due to the patient going into a vegetative state for days to months. Some other symptoms that have been reported are Grand Mal seizures or uncontrollable jerking of limbs
Sleep disorders are an underestimated public health concern considering that fifty to seventy million Americans are affected. Technological advances in the field of sleep have facilitated various theories to explain the need for and the purpose of sleep. Scientist have uncovered many types of sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Sleep disorders affect men ,women, children, the elderly, and the obese in different ways. Factors such as the number of children and the effects of menopause have been studied to determine their effects on sleep. Various treatments have been utilized ranging from non-pharmacologic to pharmacologic methods. Scientist have pinpointed areas of the brain that are involved in sleep deprivation and hormones that ultimately affect sleep.