Sleeping Beauty Syndrome is also called hypersomnia, pathological drowsiness, or Kleine-Levin syndrome. This is a fairly rare disease affecting the nervous system. Most often, it develops in adolescents under the age of 16 years. At the same time, girls get sick much less often than boys.
For the first time they began talking about hypersomnia in medical circles in 1786. However, it was only in the 1930s of the 20th century that this phenomenon began to be studied seriously. This neurological pathology was dealt with by psychiatrist Willy Klein and neuropathologist Max Levin. Therefore, as a result, the sleeping beauty syndrome received the corresponding scientific name - Kleine-Levin syndrome.
To date, this disease is not common, but several diagnoses a year all over the world are nevertheless made. What are the causes of this pathology?
Why does hypersomnia occur?
The root cause of pathological drowsiness is usually a malfunction in the nervous system, brain. According to the results of the studies, it was found that in people with sleeping beauty syndrome, malfunctions of the hypothalamus are observed. In addition, the development of the syndrome is affected by hormones. For this reason, adolescents are more likely than adults to experience such a neurological disorder.
Specifically, doctors distinguish the following reasons for the development of Kleine-Levin syndrome:
- heredity, which can provoke mutations in genes and cause hypersomnia;
- traumatic brain injuries, especially affecting the area of the hypothalamus;
- viral infections, brain diseases, including cancer;
- malfunction of the hormonal system;
- constantly elevated body temperature or intense fever caused by overheating, poisoning, flu, and so on.
Signs of Sleeping Beauty Syndrome
The main symptom of neurological pathology is a constant desire to sleep. A person suffering from this disease can sleep in up to two weeks in a row, waking up for a short time in order to eat and go to the toilet. Sleep with Sleeping Beauty Syndrome can be both very superficial and anxious, and deep, strong. In any case, it is not recommended to wake a person by force, otherwise you may encounter affective behavior, aggression, uncontrollable anger.
Another important symptom of Kleine-Levin syndrome is gluttony, which can gradually transform into such a psychological pathology as bulimia. Sick people, in spite of a complete breakdown and constant desire to sleep, experience very severe hunger. In the rare minutes of wakefulness during an exacerbation of the disease, such people can eat a huge amount of food, without feeling full. They may feel sick from eating, in some cases, nausea and vomiting appear, but patients are simply not able to control themselves.
Additional signs of Sleeping Beauty Syndrome include:
- gradual loss of interest in business, work, study, hobbies before an outbreak of exacerbation;
- increased sexuality, excessive desire for intimacy both before the onset of hibernation, and during hypersomnia;
- increased sweating and malfunctions of the autonomic nervous system;
- distraction, forgetfulness, tearfulness, confusion, loss of orientation in space;
- excessive painful reactions to any light or noise sources;
- restless legs syndrome, pain in muscles and joints, intense tension in the body, which makes sleep very intermittent;
- increased blood sugar;
- pallor or blueness of the skin, especially in the lips and on the hands.