
working, playing a game, walking, talking to someone, eating, driving or operating machinery. People can fall asleep doing absolutely anything, e.g.

Narcolepsy may also affect a person’s ability to perform normal daily activities.

What are the symptoms of narcolepsy and cataplexy? In rare cases narcoplexy is caused by a genetic defect, a traumatic injury to the brain or a brain tumour. The reason for this is unknown, but it is thought to be an auto-immune reaction, where the body’s immune system mistakenly starts to attack its own cells. When a person also has cataplexy, there appears to be a loss of the brain cells that produce hypocretin. In some cases, narcolepsy runs in families. Hypocretin promotes wakefulness, so when there’s not enough, a person can fall asleep. The exact cause of narcolepsy is unknown, but it is thought to develop when the levels of a brain chemical called hypocretin are too low.
