Nicholas Coombs

Final Project
Internet Navigator Course
April 18, 2003

Narcolepsy: What is it and how does it affect one's life?

Citation #1

Harsh, J. "Night-time Sleep and Daytime Sleepiness in Narcolepsy." Journal of Sleep Research 9 (2000): 309-316.

Citation #2

College of Nursing Online. Living with narcolepsy. April 2001. University of Illinois at Chicago. April 12, 2003. College of Nursing

Why these two resources were the best I found on my topic.

Both of these articles were very informative and helped me to learn more about what narcolepsy is and the effects it has on narcoleptics. The article reference, "Night-time Sleep and Daytime Sleepiness in Narcelopsy," provided infrmation that was directly from a primary source and was definately a scholarly article. It contained many specific details about the symptoms of narcolepsy and how the chemical imbalance in the brain alters a narcoleptic's sleep pattern in such a way that they suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness. The website resource was very good for me to find because I have this disorder. The information this site provided was very important because it explains how narcoleptics can be more successful at living an ordinary life. It offers much advice about medications that can help maintain alertness during the day as well as additional contacts of support groups of those who suffer with me.

How will these research skills be useful to you for future classes and for your everyday life?

The research skills that I have learned and applied will help me tremendously throughout my schooling. I am sure I will be required to complete many research papers with specific bibliographies attached. As far as the internet resources...the ways it will help me are endless. With the way the world is headed now, within a few years I am sure almost anything will be done over the access of the internet. I was really excited when I learned how to design my own web page because my father has his own business and I work for him. He is trying to put a big focus on getting the house plans he designs out on the internet so I will be able to help him a lot in that aspect. It seems that the internet is the fastest and most used resource and I plan to always use it to my benefit.

After completing the research process, what new things have you learned about your topic? Please write 4 or more sentences.

An interesting thing I learned was that one in every two-thousand people have narcolepsy. I never realized that it was that popular so, in a way, I feel comforted. I also learned of a few of the medications that I would like to experiment with to see if I can calm down my crazy dreams at night. Overall I think it is neat to know that there are more people than just me that suffer from narcolepsy and that there are people who are trying to help as well as support us.