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Narcolepsy

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narcolepsy

[′när·kə‚lep·sē]
(medicine)
A disorder of sleep mechanism characterized by two or more of four distinct symptoms: uncontrollable periods of daytime drowsiness, cataleptic attacks of muscular weakness, sleep paralysis, and vivid nocturnal or hypnogogic hallucinations.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Narcolepsy

 

a disease the main symptom of which is an uncontrollable desire for sleep. Narcolepsy can develop after infections (epidemic encephalitis and malaria, for example) or head injuries; it may also be caused by certain brain tumors. Sometimes no apparent cause can be discovered, as in congenital, or genuine, narcolepsy. In addition to being characterized by an uncontrollable desire for sleep, narcolepsy is characterized by cataplectic attacks (loss of muscle tone brought about by exaggerated emotion) and by sudden arousals from nocturnal sleep with a loss of muscle tone. The duration of narcoleptic attacks is brief—from one to 30 minutes. The course of narcolepsy is chronic, but the intensity diminishes with age. Treatment involves both the elimination of the underlying cause and the use of pharmacotherapeutic techniques.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The trailer and more information can be found via the Super Narcoleptic Girl Facebook (www.facebook.com/SNGWebseries), Twitter & Instagram (@SNGWebSeries), IMDB page and website (www.SNGWebseries.com).
Matsubayshi, "Rapid eye movements, muscle twitches and sawtooth waves in the sleep of narcoleptic patients and controls," Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, vol.
Now, the same UCLA team has reported that an excess of another brain cell type- this one containing histamine - may be the cause of the loss of hypocretin cells in human narcoleptics.
Pulsatile LH release is diminished, whereas FSH secretion is normal, in hypocretindeficient narcoleptic men.
It is important to clarify that the narcoleptic patient is sleepy and not just fatigued, although both symptoms are often reported.
Will they think I'm narcoleptic as I sleep all the time?
Graduate student Doon Harrow (Treadaway), who toils in the pipeworks under narcoleptic mentor Sul (Landau), tells his inventor father (Robbins): "I will not sit around while Ember collapses.
MW, please explain how, when parked at the traffic lights in stationary traffic you can look in your mirror and change lanes when the narcoleptic in the pick-up truck is about to plough into the back of you?
I must point out here that, to my knowledge, there is no case of anybody freezing to death in Curve Lake in recorded history, drunk, sober or narcoleptic.
The initiating event for narcolepsy is not well understood, but infection, immune system dysfunction, trauma, hormonal changes, or stress may be present before narcoleptic symptoms become manifest.
Barnhill's account of his "narcoleptic (sic) patient," his use of the term narcolepsy was premature.
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