“I wish I
could sleep two weeks in a row…” I bet
everybody has said this in more than one occasion, but for people who suffer
the extremely rare Kleine-Levin syndrome, as known as “the sleeping beauty syndrome”,
their wish is the opposite.
The
Klene-Levine syndrome is a neurological disorder which affects the sleeping habits, making sick
people sleep over 20 hours per day—being awake just few hours to eating or going to the bathroom—in every
crisis. Each episode lasts almost two weeks, with a frequency which ranges among
weeks, months or even years, depending on each case. This syndrome affects mostly male adolescents
(relation 3:1) who had their first episodes between 10 to 20 years old. About
90% of the patients experienced their first attack as a result of a cold or
other type of infection, but it’s also associated with stress, long sleep deprivation
periods, excessive use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, accident and head
traumas. Other scientists sustain that it might be a hereditary genetic predisposition,
or it may be the result of an autoimmune disorder. Recent studies also argue that
the deficiency of dopamine and striatum could be link to it.
Due to the
lack of other symptoms—apart from the long hours of sleeping—this disease is
hard to diagnose, making doctors eliminate others which can present similar symptoms,
and there is no definite treatment or cure for it. Patients are treated with
stimulants—as amphetamine and methylphenidate—for the sleepiness. Experiences with lithium and carbamazepine are
shown highly results, but it is still in testing process.
For awaking definitely his princess, the charming
prince will be to get off his horse and start to investigate in a lab!
Finally I left the following questions: Have you heard
about this syndrome before? Do you know other rare diseases?
I haven't heard about this before. it must be really difficult for the people who suffered from this disease and for their families, because they're not really "living" they are not aware of what it is happening and they can't share moments with their families, as in the article said, they are like zombies. there are a lot of rare diseases that people doesn't know about, this syndrome remind me of the one called catalepsia that is when the person seems dead for a period of time and then comes back to life and because of this some people has been buried alive.
ReplyDeleteIt is like being in Coma, not so drastic, though.
ReplyDelete