Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00003:reg:7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00003
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 7
Character Range: 1690–4620

7               Kind of injury, disease or death to which this Statement of Principles relates
(1)          This Statement of Principles is about narcolepsy and death from narcolepsy.
Meaning of narcolepsy
(2)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, narcolepsy:
(a)          means a chronic neurological disorder of sleep regulation and wakefulness characterised by disabling, excessive and irresistible daytime sleepiness lasting for at least 3 months, with varying amounts of cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis; and
(b)          includes:
                (i)            narcolepsy with cataplexy (narcolepsy type 1); and
                (ii)         narcolepsy without cataplexy (narcolepsy type 2); and
(c)          excludes:
                (iii)       early onset narcolepsy; and
                (iv)        daytime sleepiness caused by another condition which disrupts the duration or quality of sleep.
             Note 1: Narcolepsy type 1 is characterised by cataplexy along with sleepiness at the onset of the disorder. It is related to a deficiency of orexin due to selective loss of orexin-secreting neurons in the hypothalamus, with little or no detectable orexin in the cerebrospinal fluid.
             Note 2: Narcolepsy type 2 is characterised by sleepiness that may occur with hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis, but cataplexy is not present. Levels of cerebrospinal fluid orexin are usually normal.
             Note 3: The diagnosis of narcolepsy is established by appropriate clinical testing, including sleep studies, the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) and measurement of orexin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid.
             Note 4: Examples of other conditions that can cause daytime sleepiness include circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (for example, rotating shift work), insufficient sleep, and the effect of medication or substances or their withdrawal.
             Note 5:  cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis are defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.
(3)          While narcolepsy attracts ICD‑10‑AM code G47.4, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of narcolepsy is that given in subsection (2).
(4)          For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Tenth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2017, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978-1-76007-296-4.
Death from narcolepsy
(5)          For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, narcolepsy, in relation to a person, includes death from a terminal event or condition that was contributed to by the person's narcolepsy.
Note: terminal event is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.