Narcolepsy-cataplexy (NC) is a chronic neurological disease with suggested autoimmune etiopathogenesis. Nicotine stimulates central nervous system and smoking increases the risk of autoimmune diseases. Assessment of smoking habits and its correlation to clinical parameters among 87 adult NC patients (38 male, 49 female) included night polysomnography and multiple sleep latency test. In our sample, 43.7% NC patients were regular smokers, and 19.5% former smokers compared to 22.2%, and 12.6%, respectively, in the general population. Patients started to smoke in the mean age of 20.0 (SD ±6.0) years. 72.2% of NC smokers started to smoke before the onset of NC and the mean of the delay between smoking onset and NC onset was 9.1 (±5.8) years. We found a direct correlation between smoking duration and the number of awakenings, duration of N1 sleep, REM sleep latency, and apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI), and, on the contrary, indirect correlation between smoking duration and N3 sleep duration, showing that smoking duration consistently correlates with sleep macrostructure. Smoking is highly prevalent in NC and has relationship with clinical features of NC.

Centre for Sleep and Wake Disorders Department of Neurology 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital Prague Prague Czech Republic

Centre for Tobacco Dependent 3rd Department of Medicine Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital Prague Prague Czech Republic

Department of Neurology Faculty of Medicine Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice and Louis Pasteur University Hospital Košice Slovak Republic

Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital Prague Prague Czech Republic

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