157: Clinical Advances and Unanswered Questions in Narcolepsy

Welcome to the NeurologyLive® Mind Moments® podcast. Tune in to hear leaders in neurology sound off on topics that impact your clinical practice.

In this episode, "Clinical Advances and Unanswered Questions in Narcolepsy," Lindsay McCullough, MD, discusses how clinical understanding of narcolepsy has evolved, where major diagnostic and treatment advances have occurred, and where important gaps remain. McCullough, assistant professor of medicine and associate program director for the sleep medicine fellowship at Rush University, reflects on progress in defining narcolepsy subtypes, the growing role of orexin biology, and how recent research in 2025 has reshaped conversations around disease-modifying approaches. The discussion also explores emerging links between sleep disorders and neurodegenerative disease, common misconceptions that continue to delay diagnosis, and how clinician education can improve recognition, safety, and long-term management of patients with narcolepsy.

Looking for more Sleep Disorder discussion? Check out the NeurologyLive® Sleep Disorder clinical focus page.

Episode Breakdown:

• 1:05 – Advances and remaining gaps in the clinical understanding of narcolepsy
• 2:30 – How narcolepsy care and research meaningfully evolved throughout 2025
• 4:50 – Sleep disorders, neurodegeneration, and what clinicians should watch for
• 6:50 – Neurology News Minute
• 8:50 – Persistent myths that delay diagnosis and affect clinical decision-making
• 12:30 – How lived experience shapes holistic, patient-centered narcolepsy care

The stories featured in this week's Neurology News Minute, which will give you quick updates on the following developments in neurology, are further detailed here:

• FDA Approves Inebilizumab for AChR- and MuSK-Positive Generalized Myasthenia Gravis
• FDA Clears Pivotal Phase 3 PREVAiLS Study of Pridopidine in Early, Rapidly Progressive ALS
• Tolebrutinib Falls Short in Phase 3 PERSEUS Study, Forcing Decision to Redact Regulatory Submission

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