Narcolepsy Essays (925 words) - Sleep Disorders, Dream, Neuroscience

Narcolepsy An article in the Scientific American, by Jerome M. Siegel, focused on a dangerous sleeping disorder called Narcolepsy. A Narcoleptic has Symptoms such as cataplexy, which is the loss of skeletal muscle tone, and always feeling sleepy during daytime hours. The people suffering from this disorder tend to feel as if they hadn't gone to sleep for 48 hours. In addition, they sleep poorly at night. Laughter, embarrassment, sudden anger, social interactions with strangers, and sexual intercourse may trigger a cataplectic attack. A Narcoleptic may even fall asleep at the most dangerous times. For example, driving a car with this untreated disorder puts a person at high risk of an automobile accident. The disorder makes it difficult for them to focus on specific things, such as schoolwork or work in the workplace. Sleep paralysis and hypnagognic hallucinations are among two other symptoms of narcolepsy. Sleep paralysis is an ability to move when you fall asleep or awaken. This occurs daily. On the other hand, hypnagogic hallucinations are dreamlike experiences during waking that sometimes incorporate elements of the environment. These symptoms occur when narcoleptics are most sleepy. In addition, not every person suffers from the symptoms the same way. Also, this article pointed out that Narcolepsy affects between one and one thousand and one and two thousand people in the U.S. In contrast, one in 600 in Japan to one in 500,000 in Israel. It also stated that the environment and ethnic backgrounds are the reason for the number differences of these countries. The first signs of Narcolepsy appear in the teens or 20's. The symptoms do get worse after a few years and then they plateau. The causes or Narcolepsy is linked to a disruption of the sleep control mechanism in our brain. Our sleep cycle normally has two stages, Rapid-Eye movement Sleep (REM), and Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (NREM). When were experiencing NREM sleep, our muscles are relaxed, breathing is normal, the cerebral cortex generates high-voltage waves and the energy consumed by the brain is minimized. In contrast, in REM sleep, breathing and heart rate are irregular, rapid eye movements occur; the cortex generates fast, irregular, low voltage waves. Non-Narcoleptics tend to begin to sleep with NREM sleep. After 90 minutes or so, they're in REM sleep. When this happens, they experience loss of muscle tone and dreamlike hallucinations that usually occur during REM sleep. Researchers stated that being sleepy is normal, but its the large amount of sleep in Narcoleptics thats very abnormal. In the early 1970's, advanced research in Narcolepsy began. Researchers discovered that some dogs showed that they had very similar symptoms to human narcoleptics. William C. Demit of Stanford University stated that the disease in the dogs was inherited by both the mother and father to their offspring. In the 1940's, Horace W. Magnoun of Northwestern University discovered when he electrically stimulated the medulla (part of the brain stem) the muscle tone disappeared. He didn't connect his studies to sleep. The studies in animals show us that the main function of the muscle-tone control system in the medulla suppresses muscle activity in REM sleep. In addition, it regulates the level of muscle tone in waking. This part doesnt work when the animals are moving. This explains the notion of when we try to relax or turn off our muscles; we are actually trying to turn on this specific section of the brain. REM sleep is the only time when normal individuals lose all muscle tone. Another study by Frank Wu indicated that there was another group of nerve cells in the brainstem called the Locus Coeruleus. The locus coeruleus also plays a role in REM sleep and narcolepsy. It releases a neurotransmitter called norepinephrine, which communicates with another neurons. Both these nerve cells are active in animals in waking, but inactive when theyre in REM sleep. In REM sleep the reduced amount of motor neurons prevents them from moving or responding to their dreams. In cataplexy, the same reduction prevents the motor neurons from responding to a narcoleptics attempt to move. Researchers also concluded that unknown agents in the environment may cause an autoimmune reaction that ends up damaging neurons in the brain that control arousal and muscle tone. After narcoleptic symptoms occur, the patients

Cold War Essay Topics

Cold War Essay TopicsCold War essay topics are probably one of the most complex topics to write on. There are millions of books and articles that deal with this topic and there are people that try to research for the solution to make it easier to write a cold war essay topic. So you may ask, why would one want to study the Cold War? The main reason is because you want to be respected by those who lived through the period in their lives.As mentioned before, the Cold War is considered to be one of the longest wars in human history. There were three separate conflicts throughout the period from the time the Soviet Union joined the council of nations to the time the United States of America declared their independence. And each and every conflict were fought against their own national government in an attempt to achieve domination over their enemy.So there are so many different topics to look at when writing your own. One of the best categories to look at is where the nations originated. How did the Cold War start and why is it still being fought in each and every country?Look at where these areas are located: Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Central Asia, Northern Africa, South Asia, or even the Middle East. Wherever you live is a good place to start looking because you will not have to travel as far as going from one area to another in order to get an idea of the events surrounding the Cold War. So even if you do not live in a part of the world that has experienced the Cold War, you can still find Cold War essay topics that can be used as background to your own information.One of the most common methods that are used to explain the origins of the Cold War is the Warsaw Pact. This group of nations was formed in 1955 to be the first signatory to the Moscow Treaty. The purpose of the Warsaw Pact was to work together to prevent a potential invasion of their territory by the West.After the Cold War was officially ended, the Warsaw Pact took several years to decide what to do about the alliance. They finally decided to abandon the pact due to the fact that they believed that they would be able to defeat the west even without it. In addition, they decided that the Soviet Union was becoming too powerful and they wanted to merge together with the other nations so they could remain strong and powerful.Another paper topic that you can use is the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba used as missiles to take out one of the warships and the United States of America had enough and considered taking down the second ship. This incident started the entire Cold War.Finally, one of the best places to look when writing a Cold War essay topic is the current situation. It does not matter how old the Cold War is or how the world feels about the war, you should look at the current situation and how this was caused. This is because many times the current situation is the cause of the Cold War and the reasons behind it.