ANNOUNCER: Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder that be debilitating.
JOSE S. LOREDO, MD, MPH: Oftentimes, patients who are severely affected cannot drive, cannot hold jobs that require them to stay alert during their working hours. Therefore, it can be quite disabling.
ANNOUNCER: Narcolepsy is characterized by abnormal sleep at night, followed by an overwhelming need to sleep during the day. Sufferers often nod off without warning in the middle of an activity
JOSE S. LOREDO, MD, MPH: Besides being sleepy and having these sleep attacks, the patients often complain that they feel that they are paralyzed when they're asleep, or often as soon as they fall asleep or as they're waking up, they complain of having such vivid dreams that we call them hallucinations.
ANNOUNCER: Perhaps the most disturbing symptom, one that affects about 70 percent of those with the disorder, is a sudden loss of muscle tone called cataplexy.
JOSE S. LOREDO, MD, MPH: It is a very dramatic situation in which the affected individual, when exposed to a very strong emotion, such as laughter, being very happy or being startled or suddenly being very angry for whatever reason, the patient suddenly loses motor strength, muscle tone, usually of the neck, the jaw, the back, and oftentimes they will fall or they will sit down or will drop objects.
