21601_Best Practices for Managing Narcolepsy and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Thomas Scammell, MD (Chair), Richard Bogan, MD, Michael Thorpy, MD, and Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD address the challenges in the diagnosis of narcolepsy, identify best practices, and assess current and emerging strategies for treatment of EDS in OSA.

Narcolepsy is a severe, incurable neurological disorder with the main symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and cataplexy, although additional symptoms that may require treatment include sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations, and disturbed nocturnal sleep. Unfortunately, many individuals with narcolepsy remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, posing a risk to themselves and those around them. In many patients, narcolepsy can be effectively managed with medications, lifestyle changes, and the peripheral support of individuals such as family members, coworkers, and other casual relations. However, despite current therapies, many patients with narcolepsy continue to experience EDS.

EDS is also associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a serious, chronic sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. EDS is a frequent complaint of OSA patients and is one of the criteria of the syndrome definition. Although continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment effectively reduces sleepiness in OSA patients, some patients remain sleepy in spite of appropriate treatment.

In this program, a faculty of experts--in lectures, stimulating panel discussion, and a provocative case study--will address the challenges in the diagnosis of narcolepsy, identify best practices in the current management of narcolepsy and potential new approaches, and assess current and emerging strategies for treatment of EDS in OSA.

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