NARCOLEPSY CATAPLEXY SYNDROME PLUS

Being touched by another person usually causes the paralysis to disappear. Episodes of sleep paralysis usually go away after a few seconds to a few minutes.

Sleep paralysis: This symptom is the inability to move or speak just before falling asleep or just after waking up.

In young children, cataplexy can be mistaken for clumsiness, seizures, a fainting spell or as an attention-seeking behavior. Cataplexy is seen in about 70% of children with narcolepsy. Cataplexy usually lasts a few seconds to several minutes.

NARCOLEPSY CATAPLEXY SYNDROME PLUS

Additional features unique to children include facial and/or jaw and eyelid weakness and sticking out of the tongue, plus slurred speech, other abnormal facial movements and expressions. Cataplexy may be mild, like a brief feeling of weakness in the knees or slackness in the jaw or drooping of the eyelids, to total body paralysis with collapse. Cataplexy: Cataplexy is a sudden, brief loss of muscle tone or strength triggered by stress or a strong emotion, such as laughter (common cause in children), excitement, anger, anxiety or surprise.Behavioral issues include irritability, aggressiveness, hyperactivity, social withdrawal and depression. Children with EDS report mental cloudiness, forgetfulness, lack of energy, decreased attention and concentration, and poor school performance. One unique sign of narcolepsy in children is consistent napping after the age of five or six. In preschool children, afternoon naps can last up to two to three hours, but tiredness returns within one to two hours. Sleep attacks in young children are nearly constant and they last longer than those experienced in adolescents or adults. Children have frequent bouts of extreme tiredness, most often during inactive times, such as when sitting in the classroom, reading, or riding in a vehicle. EDS interferes with normal activities (work, school, home life, social activities) every day. Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS): This is usually the first sign of narcolepsy in children and occurs in all patients.The four most common symptoms/signs of narcolepsy are as follows:

Not all of the following symptoms are present at the start of the disorder or in every single child. Symptoms of narcolepsy vary during a personвЂ™s lifetime. What are the signs and symptoms of narcolepsy?

Environmental toxins: Pesticides, heavy metals and secondhand smoke.

Brain injury or tumor: In a small number of patients, the area of brain that controls REM sleep and wakefulness can be injured by trauma, tumor or disease.

Family history: Some persons with narcolepsy have close relatives with similar symptoms.

An autoimmune disorder: A personвЂ™s immune system attacks the brain cells that produce hypocretin, resulting in a shortage of this chemical.

Other possible factors scientists think play a role in narcolepsy include: In many cases, it is thought to be due to a loss of a particular chemical in the brain called hypocretin. Narcolepsy is thought to be related to a disruption in an area of the brain that controls sleep and wakefulness. Persons with narcolepsy type 2 have excessive daytime sleepiness but do not have cataplexy and have normal levels of hypocretin.

Narcolepsy Type 2 (previously called narcolepsy without cataplexy).

One unique feature of this type of narcolepsy in children is that those who have it tend to experience rapid weight gain. Persons with narcolepsy type 1 have excessive daytime sleepiness plus cataplexy and/or low levels of a chemical in the brain called hypocretin.

Narcolepsy Type 1 (previously called narcolepsy with cataplexy ).

Narcolepsy affects an equal number of boys and girls. The symptoms of narcolepsy have been reported in children as young as five or six, but it is often not diagnosed until adolescence or later. However, one estimate is that narcolepsy occurs in slightly less than one in every 100,000 children. Narcolepsy is underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed in children, making it difficult to determine how many children have the disorder.

Sudden sleep episodes (вЂњsleep attacksвЂќ) that occur during any type of activity and at any time of the day.

Children with narcolepsy experience excessive sleepiness, which impacts all aspects of their life, including social activities and school performance. Narcolepsy is a neurological (nervous system) disorder that affects the brainвЂ™s ability to control sleep and wakefulness.

Narcolepsy cataplexy syndrome