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Lower metabolism, eating behavior possibly explain the cause of overweight in narcolepsy
October 01, 2007WESTCHESTER, Ill. - A lower metabolism, as well as slight changes in eating behavior, could explain the positive energy balance leading to being overweight in narcolepsy, according to a study published in the October 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
The study, authored by Dorotheé Chabas, MD, PhD, of the Fédération des Pathologies du Sommeil, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtriére, Paris, France, focused on 13 patients with narcolepsy and nine healthy controls matched for age, gender and ethnicity. Energy balance was evaluated by measuring the subjects' body mass index (BMI), rest energy expenditure with calorimetry, daily food and water intake and plasma hormone levels. Eating behavior was evaluated using psychometric tests.
According to the results, more narcoleptics than controls tended to be overweight. Seven of 13 narcoleptics and one of nine controls were overweight. Overall, narcoleptics had lower metabolism than controls. Only typical narcoleptic patients (those with narcolepsy with clear cataplexy and with suspected hypocretin deficiency) tended to eat less than controls. Plasma glucose, cortisol, thyroid and sex hormone levels did not differ between groups. However, prolactin levels were twice as high in patients with narcolepsy as in controls. Narcoleptic patients had higher psychometric scores and more frequent features of bulimia nervosa than controls, suggesting a mild eating disorder, classified as "Eating Disorder Not Other Specified."
"There has been, to our knowledge, no measure of energy expenditure in narcoleptic patients and no ratio between calories intake and energy expenditure in narcolepsy. We, therefore, conducted a pilot study measuring food intake, eating attitude, energy expenditure and basal plasma levels of various hormones in untreated patients with narcolepsy and controls," said Dr. Chabas.
Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes people to fall asleep uncontrollably during the day. It also includes features of dreaming that occur while awake. Other common symptoms include sleep paralysis, hallucinations and cataplexy.
About one out of every 2,000 people is known to have narcolepsy. The chance that you have narcolepsy is higher when a relative also has it. It affects the same number of men and women.
Those who think they might have narcolepsy, or another sleep disorder, are urged to discuss their problem with their primary care physician, who will issue a referral to a sleep specialist.
American Academy of Sleep Medicine
"There has been, to our knowledge, no measure of energy expenditure in narcoleptic patients and no ratio between calories intake and energy expenditure in narcolepsy. We, therefore, conducted a pilot study measuring food intake, eating attitude, energy expenditure and basal plasma levels of various hormones in untreated patients with narcolepsy and controls," said Dr. Chabas.
Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes people to fall asleep uncontrollably during the day. It also includes features of dreaming that occur while awake. Other common symptoms include sleep paralysis, hallucinations and cataplexy.
About one out of every 2,000 people is known to have narcolepsy. The chance that you have narcolepsy is higher when a relative also has it. It affects the same number of men and women.
Those who think they might have narcolepsy, or another sleep disorder, are urged to discuss their problem with their primary care physician, who will issue a referral to a sleep specialist.
American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Narcolepsy Current Events and Narcolepsy News RSSNarcolepsy is an autoimmune disorder, Stanford researcher says
Ten years ago, Stanford University School of Medicine scientist Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD, and his colleagues made headlines when they identified the culprit behind the sleep disorder narcolepsy.
Genetic study confirms the immune system's role in narcolepsy
Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene associated with narcolepsy, a disorder that causes disabling daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, irresistible bouts of sleep that can strike at any time, and disturbed sleep at night.
Treating sleep disorders in people with traumatic brain injury may not eliminate symptoms
A study in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is the first to assess the effectiveness of treating sleep disorders in adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Results indicate that treatment may result in the objective resolution of the sleep disorder without improvements in daytime sleepiness or neuropsychological function.
Combating weight gain caused by antipsychotic treatments
Antipsychotic drugs, such as olanzapine (Zyprexa), risperidone (Risperdal) and quetiapine (Seroquel), are commonly used to treat psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, but also bipolar disorder and even behavioral problems related to dementia.
PET imaging focuses on medication's purported ability to improve mental performance
Concerned by the growing numbers of people using stimulant medications such as methylphenidate (MP)-either legally or illegally-to improve attention and focus, researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with the radiotracer fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to assess the effects of the drug on brain function in the normal human brain.
JCSM: A single subjective question can be an effective sleepiness screening tool
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New study in the journal SLEEP finds a high prevalence of eating disorders in narcoleptics
The majority of patients with narcolepsy/cataplexy experience a number of symptoms of eating disorders, with an irresistible craving for food and binge eating as the most prominent features, according to a study published in the March 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
Journal SLEEP: Methylphenidate can have sleep benefits in adults with ADHD
Treatment with methylphenidate (MPH) appears to have beneficial effects on sleep parameters in adults with ADHD, including increased sleep efficiency and a feeling of improved restorative value of sleep, according to a study published in the March 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
2 different neural pathways regulate loss and regain of consciousness during general anesthesia
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have answered long-running questions about the way that anesthetics act on the body, by showing that the cellular pathway for emerging from anesthesia is different from the one that drugs take to put patients to sleep during operations.
Practice parameters discuss treatment for narcolepsy, other hypersomnias of central origin
Practice parameters published in the December 1 issue of the journal SLEEP serve as both an update of previous practice parameters for the therapy of narcolepsy and as the first practice parameters to address treatment of other hypersomnias of central origin, including idiopathic hypersomnia, recurrent hypersomnia and hypersomnia due to medical condition.
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