Meeta Goswami & S. R. Pandi-Perumal 
Narcolepsy 
A Clinical Guide

Narcolepsy serves as a prototype of how the interaction of high quality clinical research and groundbreaking basic science can collaborate to defne the cause of a disease and change forever how we evaluate and treat it. There is scarcely a topic in this book that would have been covered in the same way 10 years ago as it is d- cussed today. We are also fortunate that many of the players in this dramatic tu- around have contributed to this volume, so that the result is a tapestry of the events that have transformed the feld over the last decade that is both authentic and detailed. The frst section of the book provides much of the basic science background. As described in the frst two chapters, the dramatic convergence of lines of evidence from two different laboratories frst demonstrated in 1999 that narcolepsy is a disease of loss of neurotransmission by lateral hypothalamic neurons making the peptides that have been called orexins or hypocretins. These fndings did much to clarify and unify a feld that had puzzled for decades over the fundamental nature of this puzzling disease, as refected in the chapters that review its epidemiology and neuroanatomical and imaging fndings.

Table of Content

Etiology.- Narcolepsy: Genetic Predisposition and Pathophysiology.- Animal Models of Narcolepsy: Development, Findings and Perspectives.- Neuroimaging of Narcolepsy.- Clinical Considerations.- Epidemiology of Narcolepsy.- Narcolepsy in Childhood.- Narcolepsy in the Older Adult.- Diurnal and Nocturnal Sleep in Narcolepsy with Cataplexy.- Hypnagogic Hallucinations and Sleep Paralysis.- REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in Narcolepsy with Cataplexy.- Narcolepsy and Other Comorbid Medical Illnesses.- Humor Processing in Human Narcolepsy with Cataplexy.- Dreams in Patients with Narcolepsy.- Psychoanalysis and Narcolepsy.- Symptomatic Narcolepsy or Hypersomnia, with and Without Hypocretin (Orexin) Deficiency.- Hypersomnias Other than Narcolepsy: Differential Diagnosis.- Psychosocial Considerations.- Psychosocial Impact of Narcolepsy in Children and Adolescents.- Quality of Life and Psychosocial Issues in Narcolepsy.- Narcolepsy, Intimacy and Sexuality.- Narcolepsy, Driving and Traffic Safety.- Memory and Cognition in Narcolepsy.- Medico-Legal Aspects of Disability in Narcolepsy.- Narcolepsy and Mental Health.- Management.- Overview of Management of Narcolepsy.- Modes of Action of Drugs Related to Narcolepsy: Pharmacology of Wake-Promoting Compounds and Anticataplectics.- Modafinil/Armodafinil in the Treatment of Narcolepsy.- Sodium Oxybate in the Treatment of Narcolepsy.- Emerging Treatments for Narcolepsy.- Non-pharmacologic Treatments of Narcolepsy.

About the author

Meeta Goswami, BDS, Ph D, MPH, has been the director of the Narcolepsy Institute since its inception in 1985 and serves as an Assistant Professor of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her general area of research interest includes narcolepsy and psychosocial issues.

S.R. Pandi-Perumal, M.Sc, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Somnogen Inc, a New York Corporation. He is a well-recognized sleep researcher both nationally and internationally, and has authored many publications. His general area of research interest includes sleep and biological rhythms. He is a well-known editor in the field of sleep medicine and has edited over 15 volumes dealing with various sleep-related topics.

Michael J Thorpy, MD, has won many awards for his research including one of the sleep field’s highest honors: the Nathaniel Kleitman Award. He is a well-published researcher and a board-certified sleep physician. He serves as a Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York.