Narcolepsy
is a serious medical disorder and a key to
understanding other sleep disorders
Narcolepsy is a disabling illness affecting more than 1 in 2,000 Americans. Most individuals with the disorder are not diagnosed and are thus not treated. The disease is principally characterized by a permanent and overwhelming feeling of sleepiness and fatigue. Other symptoms involve abnormalities of dreaming sleep, such as dream-like hallucinations and finding oneself physically weak or paralyzed for a few seconds (see Symptoms).
The Stanford University Sleep Clinic was the first medical clinic ever established to specialize in sleep disorders. It was founded in the early 1970s by Dr. William Dement to diagnose and treat narcoleptic patients. The Stanford Center for Narcolepsy was established in the 1980s and is now directed by Drs. Emmanuel Mignot and Seiji Nishino. The Center for Narcolepsy is part of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and has published more than 100 articles on narcolepsy. It is the world leader in narcolepsy research. Several hundred patients with the disorder are currently treated at the Center or participate in various research protocols. Other research protocols are conducted in animals models of narcolespy. The Stanford Center for narcolepsy was the first to report that narcolepsy-cataplexy is caused by hypocretin (orexin) abnormalities in both animal models and humans (see FAQ and publications).
We are always looking for volunteers in our narcolepsy research studies.We are presently recruiting narcoleptic patients for genetic studies, drug clinical trials, hypocretin measurement studies in the CSF and functional MRI studies. If you are interested in participating, you can contact us either on our site's message page or telephoning Ms. Mali Einen, Research Coordinator at (650) 725-6512.
Monetary gifts to the Center for Narcolepsy are welcome.