This, too, could lead to new treatments for sleep disorders. More research, more breakthroughs. Hopefully all of these will lead to the eventual relief of all sleep disorders and let the sufferers of the world get a good night's sleep at last. The gene, known as hypocretin receptor 2, allows the cell to receive messages from other cells. The defective gene fails to recognize these message so the cell is unable to recognize them and therefore, doesn't receive important directives like the one to stay awake and alert.
Dogs suffer from narcolepsy and cataplexy much the same as humans.
Other research revealed that the disease is transmitted by a recessive trait passed down from the parents. In other words, narcolepsy is inherited, but it isn't necessary for the parents to display symptoms of the disease, but only to possess this receptive gene. Now that this gene has been discovered, it is possible that further research will eventually find a cure for this devastating disorder. In an in-depth article in the January issue of Scientific American, Jerome M. Siegel, chief of neurobiology research at the Sepulveda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, reports on the research being done at Stanford and the complementary study led by Masashi Yanagisawa at University of Texas in Dallas. A great deal more research may need to be done, and it may be some time before an actual cure is found, but this is definitely a step in that direction, and should give hope of eventual relief to the many sufferers of the debilitating effects of narcolepsy.