Related Experiment Videos
A putative link between childhood narcolepsy and obesity.
Suresh Kotagal1, Lois E Krahn, Nancy Slocumb
1The Sleep Disorders Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. kotagal.suresh@mayo.edu
Sleep Medicine
|March 23, 2004
Summary
Children diagnosed with narcolepsy show significantly higher body mass index (BMI) compared to healthy peers, indicating weight gain is an early characteristic of this childhood neurological disorder.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Sleep Medicine
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Childhood-onset narcolepsy is often associated with anecdotal observations of binge eating.
- The relationship between weight gain and narcolepsy in children has not been systematically studied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the association between increased weight gain and childhood-onset narcolepsy.
- To compare body mass index (BMI) in children with narcolepsy to healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective case-control study design.
- Involved 31 children diagnosed with narcolepsy and age/gender-matched healthy controls.
- Body Mass Index (BMI) was compared at the time of diagnosis.
Main Results:
- Narcolepsy subjects had a significantly higher median BMI (22.93) than controls (20.36; P=0.001).
- Higher BMI was observed even in narcolepsy subjects not taking psychotropic medications (mean BMI 25.1 vs. 21.1; P=0.008).
Conclusions:
- Increased weight gain is an intrinsic feature of childhood narcolepsy, appearing early in the disorder's course.
- Further research correlating BMI with hypocretin and leptin metabolism could elucidate narcolepsy's pathogenesis.