Health South Sunrise

Narcolepsy Drugs – Can They Help With Narcolepsy?

Narcolepsy is a condition that affects nearly one in every fifteen people over the age of twenty-one

 

This particular medical condition, as its name suggests, refers to the inability to sleep normally due to a person's fatigue. It is often accompanied by an inability to maintain a healthy appetite and frequent urination, as well as a variety of other symptoms such as extreme fatigue, irritability, and lack of concentration.

 

Many narcoleptic patients experience symptoms that are very similar to those experienced by people who have sleep apnea, including snoring, choking or gasping for air, sleepiness throughout the day, and difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2020 found out that narcoleptics produce antibodies against a specific protein known as try 3. The reason why the antibodies affect this protein, which is then transported throughout the blood stream, is because it is part of the body's natural defense system against infections and allergies.

 

A number of various clinical trials conducted over the past few years have attempted to understand more about narcolepsy, the mechanisms of its onset, the factors which might lead to a person developing it, and how treatment can be successful in helping someone overcome this sleeping disorder. One of these studies, for example, focused on determining how this 3 could act as a catalyst in the development of narcolepsy.

 

The study was performed by researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. They were able to determine that this 3 did indeed play a role in narcoleptics, as well as in people who suffer from sleep apnea, as both of these types of sleeping disorders were linked to increased levels of the protein. The team was also able to show that blocking the function of trib 3 resulted in the reduction of the number of antibodies generated during the immune system's reaction to the trib proteins in the bloodstream.

 

Some medications help relieve the symptoms of narcolepsy. However, most of these medications actually only help relieve the symptoms of sleep apnea and do not address the real cause of the problem. To completely cure narcolepsy, doctors must work to eliminate the source of the problem, not just treat the symptoms that are already present.

 

Treating narcolepsy does not necessarily mean the drugs that were used to treat any of these conditions. Another study by a Swiss group found that adding L-dopa to a narcoleptic patient's diet was beneficial. Increased dopamine and serotonin activity in their brains stimulated an area of ​​the brain called the nucleus accumbens, which is associated with memory and learning. In fact, they found that narcoleptics who took L-dopa for more than three weeks showed significant improvements in their ability to retain information.

 

The reason L-dopa was effective in reducing the symptoms of narcolepsy was because this chemical itself acts as a release of dopamine, which means it stimulates the brain to produce more dopamine, which in turn causes the brain to release more serotonin. It has also been shown to improve the brain's ability to produce the neurotransmitters acetylcholine and norepinephrine, which are involved in memory and learning.

 

L-dopa was also proven to be effective in combating the negative effects of sleep apnea. As the drug is believed to cause the breakdown of acetylcholine and norepinephrine, which in turn leads to sleepiness, it is believed to counteract the effects of both substances on the brain, which means that sleep apnea sufferers will be able to sleep through the night without falling asleep involuntarily.