Science at UM [S03-ep02]: A revolution in the treatment of narcolepsy
This week on A l’UM la science, Yves Dauvilliers, neurologist at Montpellier University Hospital and researcher at the Institute of Neuroscience, talks about a rare disease: narcolepsy. In the second part of the program, Patrick Lemaire presents the Sciences en images exhibition "La vie est belle" (Life is beautiful).
Perhaps because it is invisible, perhaps because we imagine it to be painless, narcolepsy, which affects around 20,000 people in France, is one of those diseases that makes us smile. And while Tristan Aurouet and Gilles Lellouche's film Narco helped raise public awareness of this condition 20 years ago, it also gave it a permanent aura of humor by depicting the comical situations that these uncontrollable bouts of sleepiness can cause.
In real life, narcolepsy is a serious disability for those who suffer from it: difficulties at work, of course, difficulties driving, weight gain, irritability, loss of self-confidence... In short, the lives of narcoleptics are anything but smooth sailing. Fortunately, treatments have advanced over the past 20 years and have just taken a giant leap forward thanks to a new molecule developed by our guest's team. Yves Dauvilliers is a sleep specialist neurologist at Montpellier University Hospital, a researcher at the Montpellier Institute of Neuroscience, and also the coordinator of the four French reference centers for narcolepsy.
To go further
- Read the press release: A major step forward in the treatment of narcolepsy
- See the publication Oral Orexin Receptor 2 Agonist in Narcolepsy Type 1
- Read the article A new treatment for narcolepsy published in Lum magazine
Our last-minute guest is Patrick Lemaire, head of the MRI platform (Montpellier Imaging Resources) and researcher at CRBM, the molecular biology research center. He talks to us about the Sciences en images exhibition "La vie est belle" ( Life is beautiful) organized by the imaging and cytometry platform to mark its 20th anniversary. The exhibition opens on September 29 and runs until October 31.
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production: Tom Chevalier
Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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