Do you have narcolepsy? Have you ever heard any of the following?

• “You should get a little more rest; then you’ll be fresh and ready to go.”
• “Exercise and eating healthy always makes me feel better.”
• “Can’t you just drink a cup of coffee or something?”

Folks, narcolepsy is a real, life-altering, often frustrating disorder.

In fact, recent research suggests narcolepsy could be classified as an autoimmune disorder.

Read on and discover 8 facts about this misunderstood disease:

1. Narcolepsy affects roughly one in 3,000 Americans and it’s a lifelong disease. People have an extreme tendency to fall asleep during unusual times and in unusual places. The disease impairs sleep-wake cycles, and includes cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness.
2. Narcolepsy symptoms are often brought on by “sudden, strong emotions” like humor, anger, stress, fear, and excitement.

   

3. People with narcolepsy have a hypocretin deficiency. Hypocretin is a neurotransmitter that helps control sleep-wake cycles, so if you’re missing these cells, you definitely have narcolepsy.
4. Emmanuel Mignot, MD, a psychiatry and behavioral studies professor, was first to identify a link between narcolepsy and the lack of hypocretin. However, what he’s still unsure of is why there is a deficiency in the first place.
5. Narcolepsy may as well be considered an autoimmune disorder. Here’s why:
   1. First of all, there’s a genetic link. People are more likely to develop it if it runs in your family.
   2. Secondly, a gene known as “HLA” predisposes people to autoimmune diseases, and it’s the same gene that predisposes people to narcolepsy.
   3. However, there’s been no evidence that antibodies or lymphocytes attack and kill hypocretin cells in the brain, which is the evidence needed to prove the immune system attacks itself.
6. After the swine flu struck in 2009, there was an influx of people who developed narcolepsy.
7. Treatment options include medication to keep patients awake by regulating sleep cycles. However, some research suggests medication may be more successful if it mimicked hypocretin. Mignot says it would be like “giving insulin to a diabetic.”
8. Even though narcolepsy can’t technically be classified as an autoimmune disorder, many people working in the field, as well as doctors, recognize it as one. So there’s that.