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Narcolepsy in Adolescence

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Sleep Disorders in Adolescents

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Abstract

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurologic disorder that causes a dysregulation of the sleep-wake cycle that commonly has an onset at an early age. The mean age of onset is typically around 16 years, but children are often misdiagnosed with behavioral or psychiatric disorders. Misdiagnosis is frequent due to the symptoms of cataplexy not being identified. Cataplexy in children and adolescents can be subtle and thus missed. Some teenagers may manifest with hyperactivity, inattention, or other behavioral issue rather than daytime sleepiness.

Improved awareness of the classic pentad symptoms, including excessive daytime sleepiness, hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and disturbed nocturnal sleep can improve recognition of narcolepsy. Recognizing high risk groups, such as genetically predisposed individuals, and providing guidance regarding possible triggers is also impactful. Appropriate early treatment, both pharmaceutical and supportive, can have meaningful effects on quality of life, socialization, and school performance. Treatment should be tailored with reproductive risks in mind, as well as potential side effects or exacerbation of symptoms.

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Abbreviations

ADHD:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

DSPD:

Delayed sleep phase disorder

EDS:

Excessive daytime sleepiness

HCG:

Human chorionic gonadotropin hormone

MAOI-B:

Monoamine oxidase inhibitory subtype B

MSLT:

Multiple sleep latency test

PLMs:

Periodic leg movements

PSG:

Polysomnography

RBD:

Rapid eye movement sleep behavioral disorder

REM:

Rapid eye movement

SE:

Sleep efficiency

SL:

Sleep latency

SOREM:

Sleep onset REM

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Michael Thorpy, MD for comments and review of this chapter.

Disclosure None of the authors have any financial support or conflicts of interest to disclose.

No off label use of drugs or products have been discussed in the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Sleep Medicine—Neurology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA

    Anne Marie Morse M.D.

  2. Department of Neurology, NYU Langone Medical Center and NYU School of Medicine, 223 East 34th Street, New York, NY, USA

    Sanjeev V. Kothare M.D.

Authors
  1. Anne Marie Morse M.D.
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  2. Sanjeev V. Kothare M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjeev V. Kothare M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA

    Sanjeev V. Kothare

  2. Langone Comprehensive Epilepsy-Sleep Ctr, New York University Langone Medical Ctr., New York, New York, USA

    Rebecca Quattrucci Scott

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Morse, A.M., Kothare, S.V. (2017). Narcolepsy in Adolescence. In: Kothare, S., Quattrucci Scott, R. (eds) Sleep Disorders in Adolescents. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41742-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41742-4_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41741-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41742-4

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