Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) is a rare condition that causes a person to sleep for long periods of time. People diagnosed with KLS experience episodes where they sleep up to 20 hours per day and have changes to their behavior. The direct cause is unknown but treatment for KLS addresses symptoms.
What is Kleine-Levin syndrome? Kleine-Levin syndrome is a rare disorder that primarily affects teenage males. Approximately 70 percent of people living with Kleine-Levin syndrome are male. Symptoms include repeated but reversible periods of excessive sleep (up to 20 hours per day).
Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a rare genetic degenerative brain disorder. It is characterized by an inability to sleep (insomnia) that may be initially mild, but progressively worsens, leading to significant physical and mental deterioration.
There are several different types of sleep-wake disorders, of which insomnia is the most common. Other sleep-wake disorders include obstructive sleep apnea, parasomnias, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome.
Most people with FFI die within 6 months to 36 months of the onset of symptoms from heart problems or infections caused by the underlying condition.
Symptoms of fatal familial insomnia (FFI) begin between the ages of 20 and 70. The average onset of symptoms is age 40. Early symptoms of FFI can look similar to those of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. If you experience symptoms, visit a healthcare provider to receive an accurate diagnosis.
Almost all cases of FFI occur due to a specific variant in the PRNP gene and are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. Diagnosis is based on the symptoms, clinical exam, sleep study, and imaging studies. The results of genetic testing can help confirm the diagnosis.
Insomnia - being unable to fall asleep and stay asleep. This is the most common sleep disorder.
People with narcolepsy find it hard to stay awake for long periods of time. They fall asleep suddenly. This can cause serious problems in their daily routine. Sometimes narcolepsy also causes a sudden loss of muscle tone, known as cataplexy (KAT-uh-plek-see).
With REM sleep behavior disorder, instead of experiencing the normal temporary paralysis of your arms and legs (atonia) during REM sleep, you physically act out your dreams. The onset can be gradual or sudden, and episodes may occur occasionally or several times a night. The disorder often worsens with time.
View Source of American adults. Multiple research studies have shown that people with OSA have a higher risk of all-cause mortality, which means that they are more likely to die of any cause when compared to people who do not have OSA. Untreated OSA has also been linked to an increased risk of death.
In fact, there are some well-documented familial and twin sleep disorder studies which say that genetics is a factor. Currently, a few sleep disorders have an established genetic basis. These are fatal familial insomnia, familial advanced sleep-phase syndrome, chronic primary insomnia, and narcolepsy with cataplexy.
Kleine–Levin syndrome (KLS), also called “Sleeping beauty syndrome” is a rare, disorder predominantly reported in adolescent males, characterized by recurrent episodes of hypersomnia and to various degrees, hyperphagia, cognitive disturbances, and hypersexuality.
If you get into bed and cannot fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up, go to another part of your house, and do something soothing, such as reading or listening to quiet music. Lying awake in bed for too long can create an unhealthy mental connection between your sleeping environment and wakefulness.
A parasomnia is a sleep disorder that involves unusual and undesirable physical events or experiences that disrupt your sleep. A parasomnia can occur before or during sleep or during arousal from sleep. If you have a parasomnia, you might have abnormal movements, talk, express emotions or do unusual things.
Not getting enough sleep -- sometimes by choice -- is the most common cause of excessive sleepiness. Working at night and sleeping during the day is another. Other causes include drug, alcohol, or cigarette use, lack of physical activity, obesity, and the use of certain medications.
A person may experience restless sleep, tossing and turning or feeling only half-asleep without drifting off into deeper rest. Not all cases of interrupted sleep, though, are readily apparent to the sleeper. Some people experience very brief and minor awakenings or arousals during the night without realizing it.
Insomnia is when you experience disruptions in how you feel or function because you aren't sleeping well or sleeping enough. About 10% of the world's population experience insomnia that qualifies as a medical condition.
Causes and Trends
Symptoms of fatal insomnia are caused by misfolded prion proteins that accumulate in the brain, particularly the thalamus, and kill neurons. In the case of fatal familial insomnia, a genetic mutation causes the illness. With sporadic fatal insomnia, the cause is unknown.
Insomnia is rarely an isolated medical or mental illness but rather a symptom of another illness to be investigated by a person and their medical doctors. In other people, insomnia can be a result of a person's lifestyle or work schedule.
Of interest, people who are sleep-deprived (including FFI patients) tend to be sleepy during the day.