{"id":307,"date":"2013-07-11T16:45:36","date_gmt":"2013-07-11T16:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/?p=307"},"modified":"2013-07-11T16:46:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-11T16:46:13","slug":"narcolepsy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/?p=307","title":{"rendered":"Narcolepsy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Recent research has discovered that narcolepsy is a genetically controlled autoimmune disease. Individuals with the gene HLA-DRz\/DQI have a very high risk that their immune system will attack a<\/div>\n<div>part of the brain called the hypothalamus. It is in this brain region that an important neuropeptide called hypocretin is made.<\/div>\n<div>Hypocretin is a very important neuropeptide for maintaining alert wakefulness. If the cells in the<\/div>\n<div>hypothalamus that produce it are damaged or destroyed, narcolepsy occurs.<\/div>\n<div>This condition is characterized by a tendency to fall asleep inappropriately during the day. Other unusual symptoms can also occur, such as cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle tone); sleep paralysis (awakening to find your body paralyzed except for breathing); hypnogogic hallucinations (seeing hallucinations just as you\u2019re falling asleep), and what may seem like absent-minded behaviors (such as driving past your exit on the interstate or putting clothing in the refrigerator).<\/div>\n<div>The lack of alerting effects of hypocretin allow non-REM sleep and\/or REM sleep to intrude into wakeful times; hence, the unusual symptoms.<\/div>\n<div>Treating this condition can be very helpful but \u2013 as in all medical illnesses \u2013 it requires an accurate diagnosis. This is probably best accomplished by a sleep doctor. Unlike sleep apnea, it doesn\u2019t respond to CPAP treatment. The two main treatments are daytime stimulants and methylphenidate, and REMsuppressants such as protriptyline.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent research has discovered that narcolepsy is a genetically controlled autoimmune disease. Individuals with the gene HLA-DRz\/DQI have a very high risk that their immune system will attack a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. It is in this brain region that an important neuropeptide called hypocretin is made. Hypocretin is a very important neuropeptide for maintaining alert wakefulness. If the cells in the hypothalamus that produce it are damaged or destroyed, narcolepsy occurs. This condition is characterized by&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/?p=307\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[175],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-narcolepsy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allergy-associates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}