Word: sleeps
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Narcoleptics sleep at least two of the times, Stakes says, "within a couple of minutes," and enter REM sleep almost immediately. Normal sleepers take 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep, and patients with disorders that involve not going into REM at all sleep within five minutes...
Narcoleptics go into REM sleep the stage of sleep during which dreams occur much sooner than normal patients, and more often during the night. There is also another form of the disorder known as cataplexy, in which the victim loses muscle tone and control of the body when experiencing strong emotions, such as excitement or anger. Stakes tells of one patient who, when he tried to punish his children by whipping them was unable to do so because when he tried to remove his belt he became "very limp and weak...
Cataplectics generally remain conscious during attacks, but narcoleptics fall immediately into REM sleep. In either case, "some of these people have been labelled crazy, and they're not," says Stakes...
...diagnose accurately, you can treat appropriately," he continues, explaining the "multiple sleep latency" test. During the course of one weekend a month, a patient is given the opportunity to sleep five times in 10 hours, and the sleep latency--time between going to bed and falling asleep--is measured...
...does Stakes "treat appropriately?" Some disorders, such as insomnia, can be treated in the office. Other patients responded to antidepressant drugs, and some to simple adjustments in the sleep schedule. Still others only need reassurance that their sleep patterns are, in fact, normal. "We get patients coming in thinking they're not getting enough sleep when their sleep architecture looks great." Stakes remarks, referring to the structure of the printouts...