User:Myohoflow/Bear Ichon, Narcoleptic Wonderdog Extraordinare: Spokesdog for Narcolepsy and Autoimmune Disorders

Bear the Narcoleptic Schipperke: Spokesdog for Narcolepsy and Autoimmune Disorders
Bear the Schipperke's showdog career ended due to developing a sporadic form of narcolepsy, a deficiency of the brain cells that make hypocretin the same kind as humans,.

In 1999, Dr. Mignot discovered the cause of narcolepsy. Cell The Sleep Disorder Canine Narcolepsy Is Caused by a Mutation in the Hypocretin (Orexin) Receptor 2 Gene Volume 98, Issue 3, 6 August 1999, Pages 365-376

But his days in the spotlight were far from over. His rare form of narcolepsy actually thrust him center-stage into the role of Spokesdog for Narcolepsy and Autoimmune Disorders. He was adopted by Emmanuel Mignot, M.D., Ph.D., the Craig Reynolds Professor of Sleep Medicine and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University Center For Narcolepsy in October 2007. A native of France, Dr. Mignot bestowed the affectionate French colloquial name "ichon" to Bear, making him Bearichon, meaning "small, kind bear." "Bearichon" is a play on words of Berrichon, a French dialect spoken in the French province of Berry.

Bear's appearances in print and media

On March 15, 2007, Bear graced the cover of the Wall Street Journal's article "Their Duty Done, The Drowsy Dogs Can Doze Off Again; Now It's Up to Zebrafish" by Ron Winslow.

On October 23, 2007

On March 3, 2010, Bear appeared on the Discovery Channel show "Is It Possible?"

On April 13, 2010 Bear appeared on an episode of the Public Television channel KQED's show Quest, "Catching Up on Sleep Science" (from 9:25 to 11:08 of the 11:39 minute video on narcolepsy and sleep).