Insomnia Finds Answers in Narcolepsy

Insomnia is clearly something that is keeping you up at night better than a pot of coffee. Conversely, no amount of coffee can keep narcoleptics awake. They just sleep whenever their minds tell them to. So it is some wonder that these two diseases are possibly linked with a cure or at least a sleeping ‘potion’ a future potential for insomniacs.

The key is in the proteins. People suffering from narcolepsy are deficient in a protein that scientist think could be the key to helping people with insomnia to sleep. The protein in question is orexin. In people with narcolepsy, it is either absent or present in very small doses.

A Swiss drug company Actelion Pharmaceuticals performed experiments where orexin receptors in the brain were selectively blocked. When blockage of these receptors occurred, sleep was induced in rats, dogs, and even in humans.

These results were so convincing that the company was considering developing a drug that blocks these receptors intended as a therapeutic agent for insomniacs.   This would involve additional experiments and seeking government approval.

While the results were encouraging, scientists are cautious indicating further studies need to be done.

While the current results did indicate that sleep was induced when an orexin receptor blocker was administered, no studies have explored the quality of the sleep.

The drug could induce a very deep sleep from which it would be difficult to wake or, conversely, it could simply induce a very light sleep that is not restful. Additionally, scientists are concerned that this drug may interfere with natural sleep patterns should the person with insomnia begin to recover.