People who suffer from excessive drowsiness during the daytime may be victimes of a condition known as "narcolepsy". While most people may feel sleepy while watching TV or fater eating a meal, narcoleptics may fall asleep at unusual or embarrassing times. They may doze while eating, talking, taking a shower, or even driving a car. Victims can be affected in one of two ways. Most narcoleptics have several sleeping spells during each day with alert periods in between. A minority of others feel drowsy almost all the time and are alert for only brief intervals.

The word "alert" at the end of the paragraph is closest in meaning to