Search results for "Narcolepsy"

Electrophysiological brain stem investigations in idiopathic narcolepsy.

1998

Narcolepsy is associated with various rapid eye movement (REM) sleep abnormalities. Distinct brain stem areas seem to play a prominent role in REM sleep regulation. Recent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have led to conflicting findings concerning the presence of structural brain stem lesions in patients with idiopathic narcoleptic syndrome. However, multimodal electrophysiological brain stem investigations may reveal functional brain stem abnormalities even in the absence of MRI abnormality. Therefore we investigated brain stem function in 12 idiopathic narcoleptic patients by systematically studying tegmental brain stem pathways. All of the patients met the diagnostic criteria of…

Increased Frequency of Migraine in Narcoleptic Patients: A Confirmatory Study

2003

Previously we have reported an increased prevalence of migraine in narcoleptic patients. Because of the theoretical and clinical implications of this finding we recruited an independent new study sample of 100 patients with proven narcolepsy and conducted a structured 26-item interview based on the international diagnostic criteria for headache disorders, the Kiel Headache Questionnaire. Narcolepsy symptoms were measured by means of the Stanford Centre for Narcolepsy Sleep Inventory. Migraine prevalence was twofold to fourfold increased in the narcoleptic patients and amounted to 44.4% in women and 28.3% in men. The onset of narcolepsy symptoms was 12.3 ± 11.4 years before the onset of mig…

Post H1N1 vaccination narcolepsy–cataplexy with decreased CSF beta-amyloid

2012

Investigation of insulin resistance in narcoleptic patients: dependent or independent of body mass index?

2011

Alice Engel1,2, Jana Helfrich1, Nina Manderscheid1, Petra B Musholt3, Thomas Forst3, Andreas Pfützner3, Norbert Dahmen1,21Department of Psychiatry, University of Mainz, Germany; 2Fachklinik Katzenelnbogen, Katzenelnbogen, Germany; 3IKFE, Institute for Clinical Research and Development, Mainz, GermanyBackground: Narcolepsy is a severe sleep-wake cycle disorder resulting in most cases from a lack of orexin, the energy balance-regulating hormone. Narcoleptic patients have been reported to suffer from an excess morbidity of Type 2 diabetes, even after correction for their often elevated body mass index.Methods: To explore whether narcolepsy is specifically associated with a propensity …

Narcoleptic and schizophrenic hallucinations

2002

The differential diagnosis of narcolepsy versus schizophrenia is sometimes complicated by similar phenomenology, particularly when hallucinations predominate. REM sleep disturbances seem fundamental in the pathophysiology of narcolepsy, and REM sleep intrusions during periods of wakefulness are often associated with hallucinations also in healthy controls and in patients with other brain disorders including schizophrenia. This study used a semistructured interview to investigate different aspects of hallucinations (frequency, modality, content, and dependence on body posture) in 148 patients with narcolepsy, 21 patients with acute exacerbation of a schizophrenic disorder, and 128 healthy su…

Appetite and Obesity

2011

Orexin (hypocretin) plays an important role in promoting wakefulness [1]. It stimulates wakefulness when injected in the cerebral ventricles, in the periventricular nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamus, or lateral hypothalamus [2, 3]. Orexinergic neurons originate from the lateral hypothalamus and have projections to most parts of the central nervous system including the brain stem. The lack of orexin and/or orexin receptors is linked to narcolepsy [4–6].

Prevalence of eating disorders and eating attacks in narcolepsy

2008

Norbert Dahmen, Julia Becht, Alice Engel, Monika Thommes, Peter TonnPsychiatry Department, University of Mainz, GermanyAbstract: Narcoleptic patients suffer frequently from obesity and type II diabetes. Most patients show a deficit in the energy balance regulating orexinergic system. Nevertheless, it is not known, why narcoleptic patients tend to be obese. We examined 116 narcoleptic patients and 80 controls with the structured interview for anorectic and bulimic eating disorders (SIAB) to test the hypothesis that typical or atypical eating attacks or eating disorders may be more frequent in narcoleptic patients. No difference in the current prevalence of eating disorders bulimia nervosa, b…