{"id":7795,"date":"2023-10-15T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=7795"},"modified":"2023-10-15T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-15T12:00:00","slug":"can-covid-19-lead-to-narcolepsy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=7795","title":{"rendered":"Can COVID-19 Lead to Narcolepsy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aug 28, 2022: Olga Askinazi, PhD, Edited By Roman Gokhman. Medically Reviewed By Nick Villalobos, MD Health Line<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narcolepsy is a condition that causes you to feel overly drowsy when you\u2019re awake. It also can result in sudden sleep attacks (loss of consciousness) during the day and fragmented sleep at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narcolepsy<\/a> is a neurological disorder: a condition that affects your nervous system<\/a>. Although it\u2019s relatively rare, affecting about 1 in 2,000 people<\/a>, it often goes undiagnosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since early 2020, the COVID-19<\/a> pandemic has disrupted the healthy sleep patterns of many people worldwide. Is the virus to blame for this, or is this the result of the pandemic lockdowns? The short answer is probably both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s discuss what the research tells us about the connection between COVID-19 and narcolepsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does having COVID-19 increase the risk of getting narcolepsy?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although it\u2019s still too early after the beginning of the pandemic to claim that COVID-19 can trigger narcolepsy, researchers can make some predictions. These predictions are based on some common disease mechanisms and data from previous epidemics of respiratory illnesses<\/a>, such as the flu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2021 articleTrusted Source<\/a> explored a potential link between the immune response<\/a> to the virus that causes COVID-19 and several neurological disorders<\/a>, including narcolepsy. Researchers pointed out that during the swine flu<\/a> epidemic of 2009, there was an increase in narcolepsy diagnoses<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can COVID-19 trigger narcolepsy? Researchers speculate that the virus can travel from your respiratory system to the hypothalamus<\/a>, the hormone \u201chub\u201d of your brain. There, it can decrease the levels of a protein called orexin (also known as hypocretin).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An orexin deficit is the main driver of the most common type of narcolepsy called type 1 narcolepsy. This type includes a symptom of cataplexy<\/a>, or sudden extreme muscle weakness. Additionally, the hypothalamus may become injured, which can lead to type 2 narcolepsy, or secondary narcolepsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does COVID-19 affect people who already have narcolepsy?<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to researchers<\/a>, if you already have type 1 narcolepsy, the COVID-19 virus may further decrease your orexin levels, making your cataplexy symptoms worse. Or, if don\u2019t have cataplexy as one of the symptoms, COVID-19 can cause it to manifest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s important to remember that these are speculations. More research is needed to prove that COVID-19 can cause or exacerbate narcolepsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the virus itself, people with narcolepsy could\u2019ve been affected by restrictions imposed during the pandemic. According to a recent study<\/a>, being quarantined can worsen many narcolepsy symptoms, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n