Sleeping sickness

"Sleeping sickness" is also another name for Narcolepsy.

Sleeping sickness, or African trypanosomiasis, is an infectious disease.  It is caused by parasites from the species Trypanosoma brucei.

Cause

People get African trypanosomiasis from the tsetse fly.  Because of this, it is most common in certain areas of Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, where the tsetse fly lives.  Researchers say that about 70 million people, in 36 countries, are at a high risk for getting sleeping sickness. 

Epidemiology

As of 2010, sleeping sickness had caused around 9,000 deaths per year (compared to 34,000 in 1990). 

In 2013, about 30,000 people had African trypanosomiasis.  Also, about 7,000 more people were getting the disease every year.  More than 80% of these people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Treatment

Medications can treat African trypanosomiasis. The treatment is usually done in a hospital, because the drugs have many side effects.  For sleeping sickness that was not treated early, the medications used for treatment are based on arsenic, a poison.  These medications are dangerous, and about 5% of people die from taking them. 

Prevention

The best way to protect against African trypanosomiasis is to protect against insect bites.

Signs and symptoms
The signs and symptoms of African trypanosomiasis happen in two stages.

The hemolyphatic phase
Common symptoms in this stage include:
 A fever that comes and goes
 Headaches
 Pain in the joints
 Itching
 Lymphadenopathy: As the parasite gets into the lymphatic system, the body's lymph nodes swell, sometimes to very large sizes
 A chancre (red sore) where the person was bitten by the tsetse fly (sometimes)

If African trypanosomiasis is not treated at this point, the parasite will also get into the circulatory system and defeat the body's natural defenses.  If this happens, the person can have:
 Anemia
 Kidney problems
 Problems with hormones
 Heart problems

The neurological phase
This phase begins when the parasite invades the central nervous system by passing through the blood–brain barrier.  

In this stage, one of the most common symptoms is trouble sleeping.  This is where the name "sleeping sickness" comes from.  People in this stage often cannot sleep normally, and may be up all night and then sleep during the day.. 

Other symptoms in this stage can include:
 Mental confusion
 Tremor
 Muscle weakness
 Weakness or paralysis of an arm or leg
 Movements that the person cannot control, like a person with Parkinson syndrome
 Psychosis
 Feeling easily annoyed or being aggressive

Without treatment, a person with African sleeping sickness will go into a coma; (thus the name) all their important organs will stop working; and they will die.Damage caused in the neurological phase cannot be fixed.

References

Category:Diseases spread by insects
Category:Diseases caused by protozoa