Interestingly, those who suffer from narcolepsy, a disease in which people are excessively tired and may spontaneously fall asleep during the day, also
lack orexin due to a breakdown in the brain cells that produce it.
It's also been shown that levels of the hormones leptin, ghrelin, cortisol and
orexin — all of which are involved in appetite or eating — are affected by
lack of sleep.