This also makes it difficult to provide an exact number for people living with narcolepsy, but it is estimated to be 1 in 2000. Due to low awareness (even among health professionals), and misperceptions, it usually takes several years for people with narcolepsy to receive a diagnosis while even more are currently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. While symptoms often start in childhood and adolescence, it can occur at any age, in any gender and with no previous history of narcolepsy in the family. Narcolepsy is a chronic and incurable neurological disorder that impairs the brain’s ability to regulate the sleep-wake cycle.
