Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder Are you having troubles falling asleep at nights? Have you tried warm milk, exercise, yoga, all kinds of sleeping pills and youre still tired? Or that you were told that you had talked during your sleep? Maybe youre having sleep disorders. Sleep disorders can be related to mental conditions, physical conditions or substance inducement. There are about seventy different sleep disorders which are divided into two categories. One category comprises disorders in which a person has hard time in getting sleep or staying asleep or falling asleep at improper time. For example, insomnia, narcolepsy, nocturnal leg syndrome. Sleep disorders which people experience physical events while they are sleeping, such as somnambulism, restless leg syndrome, are categorized in another group. The most common sleep disorder that is suffered by millions of people in the world is probably snoring, which is not medically significant; whereas some sleep disorders can actually be very dangerous as it might caus e a sudden heart attack. One of the most interesting sleep disorders is narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder which is suffered by one in every 2,000 people in the United States. It can be very hard to live with. It is easy for people who know nothing about narcolepsy to think that those who are suffering from narcolepsy are simply because partied too much as people who fall asleep at inappropriate times must be having way too much fun until the early morning. But thats a long way from the truth. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that is caused by the brains failure to adjust sleep-wake cycles normally. People with narcolepsy experience temporary craving to sleep. Patients usually fall asleep for a period of few seconds to several minutes. In some cases, patients may even remain asleep for an hour or longer if the craving becomes overwhelming. Narcoleptic can easily fall into the REM stage of sleep within 10 minutes; whereas most people do not get into REM stage sleep after 90 minutes. Narcoleptic could not control when and where they fall asleep. T hey might fall asleep when waiting for the traffic light, or they could start snoring in the middle of an important meeting. So, narcolepsy can be very dangerous as patients fall asleep at improper times, such as driving, walking, and so on. Therefore, people with narcolepsy should have someone beside to take care of and avoid driving. Do you think people with narcolepsy seem to have longer sleeping time than normal person? In fact, they spend a weaker proportion of their time asleep during a day. Most of them do also experience frequent awakening during night time sleep due to daytime drowsiness and uncontrolled sleep. How do you know youre actually having narcolepsy? There are several symptoms you might have if you suspect youre a narcoleptic. Cataplexy, sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations, and excessive daytime sleepiness are common traces of narcolepsy. Cataplexy is an immediate loss of muscle tone that leads to a feeling of weakness and a loss of voluntary muscle control, such as limpness at the neck or knees, sagging facial muscles, or failure to speak clearly. The most critical attack results in a complete loss of tone in all voluntary muscles that leads to total physical collapse in which patients are incapable to move, speak or even keep their eyes open. Nonetheless, patients remain conscious throughout cataplexy. The attack can occur at any time during waking period but mostly triggered by instant emotional reactions, such as surprise, anger, fear or laughter. Episode can last for a few seconds or even several minutes. According to the National Institutes of Health, about 10% of all cases, cataplexy is the first symptom to appear and can be misdiagnosed as a sign of a seizure. Patients should avoid having extreme emotional changes to prevent the attack. Sleep paralysis which is also one of the symptoms can cause fleeting inability to move or speak while in both waking period and sleeping period. Sleep paralysis may too last for seconds or even minutes. Generally, patients remain breathing during sleep paralysis, but, its possible that some patients have experience a disheartening sensation of unable to breath. Hypnagogic hallucinations are dream-like experiences that appear before sleep. The sleeping mind beginning to dream earlier than the body has gone fully asleep is the cause of hypnagogic hallucinations, which means that whatever the patients conscious mind is thinking of will become full sensory hallucinations, similar to what happens in dreams. However, the difference between dreams and hypnagogic hallucinations is these images and sounds are occurring while someone is still actually awake. In additional, hypnagogic hallucinations are usually frightening and vivid. Generally, the excessive daytime sleepiness is the first symptom of narcolepsy to occur. The other symptoms may occur after months or year after the onset of the excessive daytime sleepiness. The excessive daytime sleepiness is mostly last permanently, but sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations may not. How do we really confirm that if were infected by narcolepsy, as having some individual symptoms may not prove that were narcoleptics? For example, hypnagogic hallucinations can occur without narcolepsy. The symptoms of narcolepsy are like symptoms of other illness; therefore, it takes as long as 10 to 15 years to have narcolepsy diagnosed after the first symptoms occur. Narcolepsy is always misdiagnosed as learning problem, seizure disorders or even laziness. Nonetheless, there are some tests available, such as Multiple Sleep Latency Test(MSLT), Polysomnography, and the Hypocretin Test. In the MSLT test, patients are required to have a daytime nap for about 20 minutes every 2 hours. Normal people without narcolepsy usually fall asleep within 10-20 minutes; whereas patients with narcolepsy usually fall asleep within 5-8 minutes. This test also shows that how fast you get into REM stage of sleep which narcoleptics easily get into it. Polysomnography is an overnight sleep study which r esult brain activity, eye movements, heart rate, and blood pressure that can find out how quick one falls asleep, how fast one experiences a REM stage of sleep after sleeping and how often one wakes up during the night. The hypocretin test which has not yet become the main diagnosis tool for narcolepsy can measure the level of hypocretin in cerebrospinal fluid. Nacroleptics normally have lower level of hypocretin. Narcolepsy is so interesting yet dangerous, but what causes narcolepsy? Some say heredity, some say infections. What is confirmed is that narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder. It is not caused by mental illness or psychological problem. In fact, scientists have also discovered that narcoleptics are usually lacking in hypocretin, also called  orexin, which is a chemical in the brain that helps promote wakefulness. Nevertheless, the causes of low hypocretin level arent well understood. Researchers think that low hypocretin level isnt caused by individual factor, it might be caused by several factors together, such as infections, brain injuries, heredity, and autoimmune disorders. Despite the disorder has been studied for a long time, the causes of narcolepsy are not determined. However, World Health Organization has discovered some narcoleptics were actually born with a gene that increases the risk of having this rare disease. Scientists found that this gene might have joint effect with H1N1 swine flu vaccine to cause narcolepsy. This is because many cases of narcolepsy among children and adolescents that have been reported in 12 countries in 2009 have received the H1N1 swine flu vaccine earlier before as well. Patients are likely to develop narcolepsy symptoms between 2 and 10 weeks after receiving the vaccine. Researchers also claimed that the risk for those who got vaccinated to get narcolepsy is about 9 times higher than those who did not get vaccinated. There are also reports that show children who ages 5 to 15 are most likely to get narcolepsy. Nevertheless, cases which narcolepsy is linked to H1N1 swine flu vaccine have only been observed in Finland and Sweden, although the vaccine is used in all over the world. Hence, the link between H1N1 swine flu vaccine and the sleep disorder narcolepsy is still being investigated by the World Health Organization. Due to the fact that the causes of narcolepsy are still not known, there is no known way to prevent this dangerous sleep disorder, even treatment of narcolepsy is only to reduce the number of attacks. The goal of treatment is to improve daytime alertness and minimizing symptoms such as cataplexy, hallucinations and sleep paralysis. Narcolepsy can usually be controlled with treatment, though. The treatment of narcolepsy is mainly changing in lifestyle. Patients should eat light meals during the day and try to avoid caffeine, alcohol and nicotine as these are factors that may increase the odds of an attack after meals. Narcoleptics may also take naps during the day for 20 to 30 minutes to maintain well functionality and social obligation. Medications can be used to control the symptoms as well. Medication such as Ritalin helps to reduce excessive daytime sleepiness and improves alertness. It has side effects such as headache, irritability, nervousness, notwithstanding its usefulness. U nfortunately, there are no surgical procedures for the treatment of narcolepsy at this time. From the Chinese traditional medicine point of view, the cause of narcolepsy is explained by the Ying-Yang theory. Narcolepsy is developed because of the Ying of ones body is greater than the Yangs and in additional that ones spleen is not functioning well. These are the two main points that cause one to experience drowsiness and also excessive daytime sleeping. However, in Chinese traditional medicine method, it seems to have better treatment than the normal western medicine method. The Chinese have recently invented a medicine that has no side effects for narcoleptics. According to the research done by Mrs. Yang in China who is a Chinese medicine practitioner, 68 patients who taken this healing method for a period of 90 days, 72% of them have obvious improvement, as in the excessive daytime sleeping has been fully cured; 24% of them have improvement, as in the excessive daytime sleeping has almost cured; the other 4% of them have no improvement. This is a great step of treatment fo r narcolepsy as 96% of patients have improvement after taking this healing method. Therefore, this healing method is now spreading out very quickly in China and also received tons of good comments. In conclusion, narcolepsy is a devastating disorder that causes extreme fatigue and often results in the patient falling asleep immediately without warning. It often causes muscle weakness and comes with snoring. Narcoleptic experiences episodes of uncontrollable sleepiness several times a day and it usually happens after meals, but it may also happen at any inappropriate time during the day and last for about fifteen minutes. Patients will then awaken refreshed, only to become exhausted within the next hour or so. It is known that narcolepsy represents a neurological problem of sleep wake mechanisms in the brain yet the causes are still unknown. Although it is not fatal, it still has serious repercussion if the situation gets worse. Thus, it is a dangerous disorder without a cure as it actually affects the brain and muscles. In my opinion, narcolepsy is horrible as it may affect patients in several areas in their lives included daily activities, social functioning and working abilit ies, and it can result in total paralysis, leaving the patients to suffer for the rest of their lives.

Ethical Dilemma with the End of Life Decisions Essay

In the advent of technology and biomedical advancements in the twentieth century, modern medicine is able to prolong the life of a patient. This dramatic improvement has raised appreciation as well as criticisms in and outside of the medical community. This is because of the important questions that come in about the end-of-life decisions. This is about who really is empowered to make the decisions regarding life, and which quality of life factors should really be considered with these end of life decisions. With technology, the medical world is come up with life support systems which literally â€Å"supports† life even those who are already dying. Because of this, ethical issues regarding when and who will decide on who pulls the plug came up. There are debates on who really has a say to stop the life from these patients. Some say the decision lies on the hands of the doctors, as they are the ones who can perceive whether or not a person still has a chance to survive. Some say the decision depends on the family members and loved ones of the patients, since it is up to them if they want to lessen the patient’s suffering. This goes in line with the concept of Euthanasia or â€Å"mercy killing† which aims to lessen the suffering of the dying patient. There are however several ethical questions which euthanasia has to answer, as it diverts from what the medical community stands for: to prolong and improve the quality of life of a patient. However, we still lack of the comprehensive bioethical rules and laws regarding these end of life decisions, that’s why doctors, as well as relatives and loved ones doesn’t know when it is the time to let go of the patient and literally â€Å"pull the plug†. If the patient however understands the situation he or she is in, he can aid the decision making process of ending his life by creating a will that appoints a relative or friend to carry out what he wishes.

Logophile Definition, Etymology, and Use

A logophile is a lover of words. Also called a  word lover or philologos.  A related term is logomaniac, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person who is obsessively interested in words. EtymologyFrom the Greek, word love Examples and Observations I am a lifelong logophile if not an out-and-out verbivore. I have a good ear and a good memory for words, its just a kind of tic or trick, the way some lucky people can play a song by ear after hearing it once or count cards at blackjack or spot four-leaf clovers. Unusual and specialized words tend to lodge in my mind, where they hang around, often for years, until I need them. American English has an astonishingly rich vocabulary and we typically use so little of it; I think thats a shame, or maybe it would be better to say I think of it as an invitation.I write with two dictionaries right at my elbow . . .. I look forward to visiting my dictionaries anew every time I sit down to write. The same goes for when Im reading and I come across an unknown word: Quaternions? Yahoo! I get to go to the dictionary!I know thats probably kind of freakish. I guess I am counting on the readership of freaks.(Michael Chabon, Questions for Michael Chabon. The New York Times, Feb. 8, 2007)I am a medic al logophile, and in using words, I will often go to the Greek or Latin roots; doing so helps me use words more precisely.(Robert B. Taylor, Medical Writing: A Guide for Clinicians, Educators, and Researchers, 2nd ed. Springer, 2011)Vocabulary Building[The] suspicion of new words, a distaste of verbal novelty, is acquired in school from dreary English teachers still in thrall to Hemingwayesque simplicities. You know their chief cliche from your own school days: always use the simple word, class! Never seek out a synonym or exotic foreign term. Thank goodness I had a father who taught the very opposite: always discover the rarest yet still correct word. By doing that, a young student accomplishes two things. You expand your vocabulary and you flummox ordained pedagogical authority, namely the dull teacher.(  Bill Casselman,  Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik: A Word Lovers Guide to the Weirdest, Wackiest, and Wonkiest Lexical Gems. Adams Media, 2010)The Sweetest-Sounding Words in Eng lish (1950)While most of the words that [columnist Frank] Colby discusses are suggested by his readers, Colby turned the tables in 1942 by asking them: What are the most euphonious English words? The top ten by popular vote: mother, memory, Cellophane, bellboy, melancholy, belladonna, flamingo, wilderness, tambourine, lavender. Last week Logophile Colby reported the results of a new readers poll. Mother had slipped a bit, but was still listed among the top ten. There were eight new favorites. The 1950 hit parade: melody, lullaby, mimosa, memory, mellow, mother, moonbeam, murmuring, beautiful, lanolin.(The Press: Mimosa, Moonbeams Memory. Time magazine, Jan. 30, 1950)Creating KingdomsA love of words comes from the work of playing around with language. We learn words by hearing them, rolling them around on our tongues and in our minds like a small child does as she learns language. A person who loves language plays with it--hears words and links them with other sounds, other meanings , and other words. The patterns and sounds of language are fascinating to the lover of words. From these connections, many poets find poems. Poetry comes as Harry Behn writes (1968) from falling in love with language. Rebecca Kai Dotlich says in A Kingdom of Words, that a word may seem to be just a word, but a poet can create a kingdom around it.(Barbara Chatton, Using Poetry Across the Curriculum: Learning to Love Language. Greenwood, 2010) Also Known As: word lover, philologos

Basic Principles Of The Constitutional Law A Police Officer

There are different basic principles of the constitutional law a police officer, but not always a probation officer must follow when conducting an ethical and legal search of a probationer’s house. â€Å"All states grant probation and parole officers the power of arrest and search and seizure as those powers relate to the probationers and parolees under their supervision. They do not have general powers of arrest and search and seizure over the other people.† (Fagin, 2016). When it comes, the probation officer the can do a warrantless search as the probationer has signed a waiver for the probation officer to enter their residence at any time as part of their conditions of parole. â€Å"Typically, the released convict agrees to submit his person,†¦show more content†¦He was arrested with two other individuals and driven to the police station. On the way to the station, the police observed Melendez-Diaz and one of his cohorts making unusual movements in the back seat.† (Kim Tucci, 2008). When police searched the cruiser 19 plastic bags were found, each filled with a white substance later reported as cocaine as well as $320 on the floor. â€Å"Melendez-Diaz argued the point that these lab reports were â€Å"testimonial† in nature and that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment required that he be allowed to cross-examine the analysts who prepared them.† (Kim Tucci, 2008). The lab reports have ethical and professional guidelines in place to ensure all materials are handled carefully and correctly since this is such a critical job secure measures are in place. â€Å"Drug analysis certificates are widely used in place of live testimony to establish the composition, quality, and quantity of drugs introduced as evidence in criminal trials. These certificates are an efficient means of providing juries with information they need, but they do not give defendants the opportunity to cross-examine the analysts about the ir conclusions.† (Kim Tucci, 2008). 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