Causes Of Narcolepsy

Please Helppi:)

hypocretin mentioned above (orexin) and narcolepsy seem to be missing are not known to be a cause of narcolepsy, but it does not seem to have a link to the disorder. it is not clear whether narcolepsy is degenerative and hypocretins decompose over time or if we are born without altogether. last general theory is that it is linked to an autoimmune reaction, most probably by the development of the fetus. (Ie.. Mother gets something like a cold during pregnancy - particularly in the second quarter when that part of brain development happens in the fetus - which may change the biology of the brain and the baby being born without orexin needed to control sleep. It is a possible reason why babies born in March are more likely to have narcolepsy than those born in other months - the second quarter during pregnancy would strike Cold Weather & Premium flu season.), but again, it is not labeled a cause. despite progress, there is still no known cause of narcolepsy.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/narco ...

Causes of Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder associated with a fault in the mechanisms of the brain that control wakefulness and sleep. A key feature of the condition is the intrusion of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep at inappropriate times. During REM sleep the brain is very active and relaxed muscles of the body (paralyzed). In non-narcoleptic REM sleep does not occur until the sleep is underway for some time. However, in people with narcolepsy REM sleep often occurs when they sleep on just as they are awake.

For over a hundred years - since the condition was first described - the cause of narcolepsy is unknown. It is only since the late 1990s that significant steps have been made in understanding the causes of the condition.

The newly discovered neurotransmitter (chemical messenger) orexin (also known as hypocretin) is presumed to be involved in the control of wakefulness and sleep. In 1999, workers in Texas found that mice that were unable to orexin in the brain developed symptoms of narcolepsy, including sleep attacks and cataplexy. At the same time a group in California has shown that dogs with narcolepsy have a defective receptor for orexin. After these encouraging results to scientists around the world rushed to see if there was a problem with orexin in humans with narcolepsy. Indeed, in 2000, a group of California showed that levels of orexin in the cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord) was very low or undetectable in most patients with narcolepsy . These results have since been confirmed by several studies. Other scientists have found that the brains of patients with narcolepsy have very little in them orexin and orexin containing nerves have degenerated. It now looks as if narcolepsy can be a "neuro-degenerative" diseases like Parkinson's disease for example. Much research is underway on this. This site will be updated as and this research generates information relevant to the patient narcoleptic.