Modafinil is the first new drug treatment to be developed for narcolepsy in 30 years. Sleep researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have found that Modafinil helps narcolepsy patients stay awake without being a stimulant. Patients taking Modafinil stayed awake at least 50 percent longer than those receiving a placebo and had far fewer side effects than the current standard treatment of amphetamines. But if you can find a drug that has as few side effects as Modafinil appears to have, then that allows people with narcolepsy to live more normal lives. Besides treating patients with narcolepsy, Merritt says, Modafinil may have potential safe uses as an anti-fatigue agent for truck drivers, airline pilots and others for whom wakefulness is a critical part of their jobs.
Narcolepsy affects approximately one in every one thousand people.
Two primary narcoleptic symptoms are excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy, or the sudden loss of strength in voluntary muscles. Other symptoms include memory and concentration problems, sometimes resulting in poor performance at work or school. The exact cause of narcolepsy is still unknown, though researchers believe it is a biological disorder, possibly involving abnormalities of brain chemistry. Boivin DB, Montplaisir J, Petit D, Lambert C, Lubin S Centre d'etude du sommeil, Hopital du Sacre-Coeur, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Results of this study suggest that modafinil is effective in treating EDS in narcolepsy, and that noradrenergic mechanisms could be involved in the physiopathology of EDS in that disorder.