The Narcoleptic Dogs That Changed the Science of Sleep
From: The Atlantic - 10/24/2017
By: Henry Nichols

It's taken more than 20 years to get to the bottom of narcolepsy - and
there's still no cure.

If people know one thing about narcolepsy, it's that it involves frequent
bouts of uncontrollable sleepiness. This is true, but the condition is so
much more disabling, often accompanied by cataplexy (where a strong emotion
causes loss of muscle tone and a rag doll-like collapse), trippy dreams,
sleep paralysis, frightening hallucinations, and, paradoxically, fractured
nighttime sleep.

There is now overwhelming evidence that by far the most common cause of
narcolepsy is an autoimmune attack, where the body's immune system mishandles
an upper respiratory infection and mistakenly wipes out the estimated 30,000
neurons in the center of the brain.

In April 1972, a toy poodle in Canada produced a litter of four. Eager
families were quick to snap up the cute puppies, but one of them, a
silver-gray female called Monique, soon developed what her owners described
as "drop attacks" when she tried to play. These did not look like sleep; they
were mostly partial paralyses: Her hind legs would go weak, her bottom would
slump to the floor, and her eyes would become still and glass-like. At other
times, particularly when fed, Monique would be struck by a full-blown attack.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/10/narcolepsy-sleep-disorder-still-unsolved/543717