Narcolepsy in childhood

Abstract

Narcolepsy is a life-long neurological disorder of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in which there are attacks of irresistible daytime sleepiness, cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle control in the legs or neck in response to emotional triggers like laughter, fright, or rage, leading to head dropping or falls), hypn- agogic hallucinations (vivid and often terrifying dreams at sleep onset), and sleep paralysis (a momentary inability to move as one is drifting off to sleep).