Sleep Enough

Here’s a case of too much sleep; not lack of sleep. Here’s a sleeping disorder that got into the news recently – Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS). Perhaps the fairy tales of Sleeping Beauty and Rip Van Winkle had their origins here? There’s this girl that can’t help herself from sleeping long stretches, sometimes stretching for up to nearly 2 weeks!

Kleine-Levin Syndrome is a rare sleeping disorder that resembles narcolepsy or epilepsy on overdrive, causing people to feel very sleepy and then doze off for extended periods of time. It is also characterized by extreme lethargy, both physically and mentally, and compulsive behavior. Otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with these people, and that’s the odd part of this syndrome. It’s interesting that KLS affects more males than females, and more people of Caucasian or Jewish origin, than other races.

If there was such a thing as the opposite of insomnia or hibernation in humans, this would be the equivalent of it. Is there a cure for this? According to some Lebanese doctors – yes, certain patients responded to carbamazepine. Another possible remedy that has been tried with some success was, you guess – modafinil. Not surprising, since modafinil was designed to keep sleep away.

This condition often appears during the teenage years and can disappear just like that; it seems many sufferers eventually outgrow it after some years. But in early times, when we haven’t yet pinned on so many medical names and terminologies as today, I reckon back then KLS would probably just be dismissed – as plain old laziness!?