Most of our impressions of narcolepsy are formed by images in movies or on television: adults having trouble completing simple tasks, often to comedic effect.
But let me share this: narcolepsy is not a condition to be taken lightly, and it is not a condition exclusive to adults.
It surprises most people when they learn that narcolepsy can impact children as young as two years of age. But I can offer from 25 years of experience that the condition is more common than you think in individuals from ages 2 through 20. As medicine has advanced, we are better able to recognize narcolepsy when it presents in childhood.
The best way to understand the impact of sleepiness is that someone – child or adult – is continually paying back what I call a “sleep debt” throughout the day. Often narcolepsy masquerades as anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder, or bipolar disorder, which is why sleep disturbances should always be considered when looking for the root of these or other conditions.
Often, patients with narcolepsy are lacking a chemical called orexin or hypocretin. This hormone is made in the hypothalamus, and a deficit of the hormone could, in some cases, be the genesis of narcolepsy.
The first course of action for parents who feel their child may be experiencing narcolepsy is to meet with a sleep specialist who may recommend an overnight sleep study followed by a daytime nap study. Information from these studies help doctors diagnose problems and determine the most effective treatment options. During the visit, a patient's brain waves, breathing patterns, blood oxygen levels and heart activity are monitored during various stages of sleep.
Treatment often starts with medication, primarily the oxybate family of medications which are central nervous system depressants that are mixed with water and taken nightly. Another treatment employed is hypnosis, where a patient is trained in a Pavlovian way to return to wakefulness by conducting a physical action when sleepiness at inopportune times begins to set in.
For more information on these and other treatments for narcolepsy, or for treatment for other sleep conditions, please call the Center for Sleep Medicine at 201-251-3487 or go to ValleyHealth.com/Sleep. To contact Dr. Kass directly, please call 201-447-8151.
About the Author
Dr. Lewis Kass serves as the Medical Director of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine for Valley Medical Group.
