BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Bowling Green rallied together to find the missing native Gable Volkert. Now that the Bowling Green community knows Volkert is safe in his hometown, some are wondering about the scary narcoleptic episode that caused this scare.
News 40 spoke to one local sleep specialist to see just how common it is to see narcolepsy severe enough to cause this extreme disorientation.
Graves Gilbert Clinic sleep specialist Dr. Michael Zachek says narcolepsy is a rare disease that causes excessive sleepiness.
People can fall asleep while falling, working on the job, driving – really doing any activity.
Zachek says people can suffer from cataplexy – a disorder that makes people lose their muscle control during states of strong emotion.
He believes many times doctors do not correctly identify narcolepsy.
“Typically narcoleptics are miserable,” said Zachek. “Most clinicians are not aware of it, so it sometimes takes as long as a decade for narcoleptics to be identified and properly treated.”
Zachek explains other narcolepsy symptoms narcoleptics can experience are sleep paralysis, lack of sleep, awake dreams and much more.