Do Infections Trigger Narcolepsy?
A paper in the journal Sleep reports on a study of whether infections can trigger narcolepsy. This disease has long been thought to be of autoimmune origin, but apparently requires an environmental incident (trigger) because quite often only one twin of an identical pair gets the disease. In the study the authors looked for evidence of the effect of streptococcus and helicobacter pylori bacteria. Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that inhabits various areas of the stomach and duodenum. It causes a chronic low-level inflammation of the stomach lining and is strongly linked to the development of duodenal and gastric ulcers and stomach cancer.
The investigators examined markers for the immune response to the bacteria in narcolepsy/catalexy patients and controls. The study concludes that streptococcal infections are probably a significant environmental trigger for narcolepsy. By contrast, the helicobacter pylori does not seem to be implicated.
(from SLEEP Volume 32 August 01, 2009.)
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