HealthyPIG Magazine

Cataplexy is a sudden and brief episode of muscle weakness accompanied by full conscious awareness, often triggered by emotions such as laughter, crying, or fear. Cataplexy, which affects approximately 70% of people with narcolepsy, is caused by the autoimmune destruction of hypothalamic neurons, which produce the neuropeptide hypocretin, which regulates arousal and plays a role in stabilizing transitions between wake and sleep states.