Article: Sleep disorder narcolepsy caused by missing brain-cell protein.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Researchers at Stanford University and the University of California-Los Angeles have identified the cause of the debilitating sleep disorder called narcolepsy, ending a 120-year medical mystery.

People with the rare disease, who suffer sudden and sometimes dangerous "sleep attacks," are missing the brain cells that produce a critical protein thought to play a role in the normal sleep-wakefulness cycle, according to Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, director of the Stanford Center for Narcolepsy.

While it is unknown what role this "sleep molecule" plays in normal brains, "it could be involved in determining why healthy people need sleep," said Mignot. "But we haven't ...

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