Learn about narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a type of sleep disorder with many typical manifestations such as daytime sleepiness, frequent dozing, difficulty staying awake... Narcolepsy is a condition many people experience, this causes a lot of trouble as well as bad impact on the patient's life. If not treated properly and timely, narcolepsy has a negative impact on the general nervous system.

Narcolepsy is typical of a neurological disorder that affects sleep control and alertness. People with narcolepsy often experience excessive daytime sleepiness, with episodes of uncontrollable sleep. Especially, these sleep episodes can happen at any time, in any activity during the day.
There are two types of narcolepsy: narcolepsy with transient paralysis and narcolepsy without transient paralysis. Statistics show that narcolepsy is not so common and usually begins between the ages of 10 and 25.

Sleep a lot during the day: people with narcolepsy can fall asleep anytime, anywhere, unpredictable. The condition of sleeping a lot during the day causes many problems for patients, making it impossible to concentrate and work effectively. Patients may fall asleep spontaneously while at work, or talking with friends. Sudden loss of muscle tone: manifests as physical changes ranging from slurred speech to complete weakness of the muscles, lasting from a few seconds to several minutes depending on the condition. When the loss of muscle tone is uncontrollable and triggered by intense emotions, positive emotions such as extreme laughter, sometimes fear, surprise, or anger. People with narcolepsy lose muscle tone only once or twice a year, sometimes in a day. However, not everyone with narcolepsy loses muscle tone. Sleep paralysis: is a temporary paralysis that occurs during sleep, with rapid eye movements. People with narcolepsy often temporarily lose the ability to move during sleep, talk while sleeping, and wake up. This condition lasts for a short time, a few seconds or a few minutes, but makes the patient very afraid. Hallucinations: The hallucinations that a person with narcolepsy experiences are called sleep hallucinations if they occur while sleeping, waking hallucinations if they occur while the person is awake. This condition can be very obvious and scary because of having to experience your dreams as real. In addition, patients with narcolepsy also have other symptoms and characteristics such as sleep apnea, at the beginning of sleep, or sleep apnea throughout the night. Restless legs syndrome, insomnia, realizing their dreams by high-fives, legs, screaming ... are manifestations of narcolepsy.

Doctors say narcolepsy is often caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Most people with narcolepsy have low levels of hypocretin, a neurotransmitter that promotes wakefulness. In rare cases, narcolepsy can be caused by a genetic defect that prevents normal hypocretin production.
With transient narcolepsy, doctors attribute the loss of hypocretin-producing brain cells to an autoimmune disorder. When there is an immune disorder, healthy tissue will be attacked, affecting health quite a lot.
Rare cases of narcolepsy may result from injury to the parts of the brain that regulate sleep, rapid eye movements, brain tumors, or other disease processes occurring in the same brain area.
Causes like infection, exposure to toxins, stress, hormonal changes, changes in sleep schedule can also cause narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy greatly affects the health and quality of life of patients if not treated properly and timely. It can be said that the typical harms of narcolepsy such as:
Misunderstanding: people with narcolepsy will be misunderstood about their personality as a manifestation of laziness, loss of concentration, difficulty concentrating at work. Ineffective Affect relationships : daytime sleepiness can reduce libido, impotence or oversleeping during sex adversely affects relationships. Intense emotions, anger or happiness can be triggered at the wrong time, some symptoms like loss of muscle tone affecting relationships with others. Physical harm: narcolepsy can affect while driving or cutting hands... while performing cooking actions and falling asleep Obesity : people with narcolepsy tend to be overweight, weight gain may be related to medication, inactivity, overeating, hypocretinemia, or all of these factors combined.

A specialist can make a diagnosis to conclude a person's narcolepsy based on the following factors:
History of narcolepsy : the doctor will ask for a detailed sleep history that includes Sleepiness level by short questions to accurately assess Drowsiness Diary: the patient will have a log book of his sleep history for 1-2 weeks. Based on that, the doctor can compare how sleep patterns and wakefulness relate to each other. Or maybe the patient is asked to wear an actigraph, a watch-like device that records your sleep patterns. Sleep study: to test a variety of signals during sleep using electrodes placed on the scalp. This is done at the treatment hospital. Sleep latency test: to check how long it takes the patient to fall asleep during the day, consisting of 4-5 sleeps 2 hours apart. Doctors perform sleep modeling, people with narcolepsy fall asleep easily and with rapid eye movement, falling asleep quickly. The above diagnostic methods help doctors rule out causes through signs and symptoms.

After the diagnosis, the doctor can make a treatment plan suitable for the patient's condition. Medicines will be prescribed based on the actual condition of the patient. Patients need to adhere to and receive treatment for a certain period of time for the drug to work, and then there will be appropriate drug adjustments to be most effective.
Patients with narcolepsy should be careful not to use the drug on their own or stop the drug without the prescription of the treating doctor. If you have any side effects, tell your doctor right away. People with narcolepsy who have a medical condition such as high blood pressure or diabetes should ask their doctor about appropriate medication.

Lifestyle changes play an important role in controlling and overcoming narcolepsy. People with narcolepsy should:
Have a specific, scientific schedule, go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends Rest: take a short nap at the same time every day. fixed for the day. Sleeping for about 20 minutes at a set time of day can help you relax and ease your feelings of drowsiness for 1 to 3 hours. Avoid nicotine and alcohol: using these in the evening can make your symptoms worse Regular exercise at least 4-5 hours before bed can help keep you awake during the day and sleep well. At Vinmec Times City International General Hospital, the Psychological Clinic can effectively help patients get rid of narcolepsy in a short time. With a team of qualified and experienced psychologists in examining, treating and consulting mental health problems with psychological tests and highly effective appropriate therapies, people Early onset of narcolepsy can be overcome, regaining health and healthy sleep.
MSc. Doctor Nguyen Van Phi MSc. Doctor Pham Thanh Luan MSc. Doctor Nguyen Trong Hien Master, Doctor Nguyen Minh Quyet Master, Doctor Nguyen Thanh Long Master, Doctor Nguyen Thi Hoa Psychology Clinic is currently cooperating with leading professors and experts of the University Hanoi Medical Center, leading hospitals in the country and internationally to diagnose and treat in order to bring the best medical examination and treatment to patients.