Wake Up Narcolepsy is proud to have four runners participating on April 19th, 2010 in the Boston Marathon. Under the marathon tab above you can learn more about each runner, their relationship to our cause, and their fundraising efforts. Any considerations and donations to the runners and our cause are greatly appreciated.
About Us
- Wake Up Narcolepsy was founded in 2008 by Kevin Cosgrove, along with Co-Founders Dave and Monica Gow
- Our mission is to promote and foster education and awareness about narcolepsy through charitable fundraising
- W.U.N. raised $35,000 in 2009, $7,500 donations were made to both Harvard and Stanford University, both institutions are currently making progress in the search for a cure for narcolepsy.
- October 2009, W.U.N. Founder and President Kevin Cosgrove received the National Public Service Award from the Narcolepsy Network at their annual conference in Jacksonville, FLA for his efforts in promoting education and awareness about narcolepsy.
About Narcolepsy
- Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disease; primary symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy. Narcolepsy affects 200,000 individuals in the United States.
- Currently there is no cure for narcolepsy, however within the last ten years scientists have made breakthrough discoveries as to the cause of narcolepsy.
- Scientists have recently discovered that there is significant evidence proving narcolepsy is an auto-immune disease.
- Scientists feel this discovery will soon lead to more efficient methods to treat narcolepsy patients and is the next step to finding a cure .
- Some cases of narcolepsy are manageable with current medications and lifestyle modifications. However for more than half of the patients living with narcolepsy, quality of life studies have shown that the symptoms of narcolepsy can be as challenging to manage on a day to day basis as Parkinson’s disease or Multiple Sclerosis .
How You Can Help
- With major breakthroughs in the past ten years there is still very little public knowledge or education about narcolepsy
- Wake Up Narcolepsy will conduct two fundraisers for our marathon runners in the Worcester and Boston area, please check back for further specifics on the dates for these events
- All donations to our cause will help scientists continue to uncover the mystery behind the cause of this disease, with the hope of finding a cure in the future.
Thank You for considering our cause!
Becky Polenski
Crystal Ellis
Julie Flygare
Monica Gow