For narcolepsy to be diagnosed, the patient usually needs to have excessive sleepiness during the day, hypnagogic hallucinations, and sleep-onset paralysis. When cataplexy isn’t related to narcolepsy, it could be caused by a number of other rare diseases and conditions.ĭiagnosing cataplexy is typically done by examining symptoms for narcolepsy. Though we don’t yet fully understand the genetic links between cataplexy and narcolepsy, around one in 10 people who have narcolepsy (type 1) will also have a close family member who has similar symptoms.Īnother causal factor is a brain injury, an acquired brain disease or a brain tumour. For this reason, it’s extremely rare to experience cataplexy without also having narcolepsy. This is known for regulating arousal and plays a part in transitions between wakefulness and sleep. Hypothalamic neurons produce a substance called hypocretin (otherwise known as orexin).
With an autoimmune condition, the body attacks healthy cells, in this case the cells that produce hypocretin. Though there are continuing studies into the cause of cataplexy, the majority of people who have the condition have fewer hypothalamic neurons in their brains, likely caused by an autoimmune condition. The term was first used in late 19th-century German physiology to describe tonic immobility, which is also known as ‘playing possum’ due to the witnessed playing-dead behaviour of possums. Typically, an episode will resolve on its own after a few minutes. Unlike seizures or fainting episodes, which also cause tonic immobility, a person who experiences cataplexy will remain aware and conscious throughout the episode. Often, eyesight will become impaired (poor focus or double vision) and speech might be slurred. More often, an episode of cataplexy will be triggered by positive emotions, but negative emotions can occasionally be a trigger too.ĭuring a cataplexy episode, the person might collapse totally on the floor or they might feel slightly weak in part of their body. It is triggered by a strong emotion like surprise, anger, laughter, crying, or fear.
Cataplexy attack full#
Cataplexy, from the Greek ‘kata’ and ‘plexis’, meaning ‘down’ and ‘strike’ respectively, is a sudden episode of weakness combined with full awareness and consciousness.
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