If the cells that produce it are destroyed, hypocretin levels are reduced and the sleep-wake cycle is not properly controlled. Most narcolepsy sufferers have undetectable or low levels of hypocretin. There is a particular gene present in quite a large proportion of the population that may play a part in narcolepsy, but it is more a case of lower risk for those people who do not have that gene, rather than higher risk for those who do. It is generally not the case that narcolepsy runs in families. Scientists worldwide are currently studying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the association between immune system activation and the development of autoimmune conditions such as narcolepsy. The risk is very small, with the chance of developing narcolepsy after having a dose of the vaccine estimated to be around 1 in 55,000 however, Pandemrix is no longer used in the UK for flu vaccination. Research carried out in 2013 found an association between Pandemrix and narcolepsy. The infection might be nothing more than a sore throat or flu-like infection.įollowing a flu pandemic in 2009, scientists noticed an increase in narcolepsy diagnosis this may have been caused by the pandemic and the symptoms of the flu, or may have been caused by the use of the flu vaccine Pandemrix. The cause of narcolepsy is often an infection that “tricks” the immune system into destroying the cells that produce hypocretin by mistaking those cells for attacking bacteria or viruses. It is now generally believed that, in most cases at least, narcolepsy is an auto-immune disorder, caused by the destruction of certain cells within the brain by the body’s own immune system.

Narcolepsy typically begins in the teens and early twenties (15–25 years), but occasionally it occurs as early as five years of age or after 40 years of age. Narcolepsy type 1 – that is, narcolepsy with cataplexy – is estimated to have a worldwide prevalence of 25 to 50 per 100,000 people, whereas the prevalence of narcolepsy type 2 – that is, narcolepsy without cataplexy – is uncertain because it is not as well studied and harder to diagnose however, prevalence has been estimated to be 20 to 34 per 100,000 people.( PubMed). Worldwide figures for narcolepsy show occurrence rates vary among populations, for example 1 in 5,000 people in Israel has narcolepsy, which appears to be low compared with 1 in 600 people in Japan however, ethnicity is not really a factor as the condition does affect every racial and ethnic group. There appears to be no distinction between men and women suffering from the disorder, both genders seem to be equally affected.

Narcolepsy is fairly rare, affecting about 1 in 2,500 people in the UK, which means that approximately 30,000 people in the UK are narcolepsy sufferers.

Define narcolepsy with cataplexy