We have clearly shown that narcolepsy is a neurological disease, not a psychiatric one. Many persons with narcolepsy have not only had to suffer from the disease but also from family members, friends and even physicians, who thought of narcolepsy as a motivational problem. Only the ignorant will now consider narcolepsy a psychological problem. It is clear that most human narcolepsy is caused by the cell loss we have identified. However, we know that certain genetic mutations affecting the hypocretin system can cause the disease in animals.
Further research is necessary to determine why symptoms vary between people with narcolepsy.
For example, we do not yet know why some individuals have severe cataplexy and others only rarely have cataplexy. In our recently published paper we found that even people with narcolepsy with rare or no cataplexy have a profound loss of hypocretin neurons. New diagnostic techniques may be developed as a result of this discovery. This will enable much earlier and more accurate identification of the disorder. We can now begin to think about how to treat the cause of narcolepsy, rather than the symptoms.