He Kleine-Levine syndrome either “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome” It is a neurological disorder whose exact cause is unknown at the moment, although there are several theories to explain its origin. Among them, the most accepted are the possible existence of a brain dysfunction at the level of the diencephalon and hypothalamus, a disorder in the metabolism of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, or autoimmune phenomena following an infectious condition.
Obviously, the victims of this rare syndrome do not fall asleep for a century as in the famous tale written by Charles Perrault or the Grimm brothers.. But if They can sleep for days on end.
The disease progresses with periods of excessive sleepiness that can last for days or weeks during which the patient sleeps for around 20 hoursdaily and the hours they spend awake are spent eating or urinating. They also present neurovegetative alterations (hyperphagia and hypersexuality), as well as psychopathological alterations (changes in the level of consciousness, sensory-perceptive alterations, memory deficits, etc.).
During their awake time, most seem to have low energy despite having slept for so long and They show no emotion except irritability. Other displays of emotions include a uninhibited sexual behavior, deterioration of mental abilities, disorientation, aggression, and even hallucinations.
After suffering one of these crises, the individual's behavior and mental abilities return to normal, although there may be amnesia after the crisis and not remember anything of what happened. Then, the patient may presentlong periodsmonths or years completely free of any symptoms until the emergence of a new crisis.
Those who suffer from this syndrome are usually adolescent males whose first crisis appears around the age of 15, although cases have been seen in women and adults.
Sleeping Beauty Syndrome is very difficult to diagnosesince the only clue that the disease leaves us, for the moment, are these episodic crises in which we see the symptoms and which may appear very few times during the patient's life. There is no specific treatment either. for Kleine-Levin syndrome, although some patients have responded satisfactorily to lithium salts.
It is a really rare disease (only It appears in 6 people out of 10,000) and It usually disappears as mysteriously as it appeared when the patient is between twenty and thirty years old.
The clinical evolution of this syndrome has traditionally been considered benign, although inter-episodic organic brain dysfunctions have been observed.
It may sound very strange and we would never have thought that such a disease existed. We may have heard of it with one of its many synonyms: Hypersomnia and Megaphagia Syndrome, Hypersomnia and Bulimia Syndrome, Hibernation Syndrome, Periodic Hypersomnia, Kleine Levin Critchley Syndrome, and a long etcetera of synonyms for Kleine Levin syndrome.
Discovering the syndrome
But what do we know about this disease? It occurs mainly in men in their teens and early twenties. The ratio of men to women is clearly skewed towards men, at a rate of 4:1. But there are exceptions, such as a 14-year-old boy treated in the psychiatric unit of the general university hospital in Elche.
Is it a disease caused by a virus? It is also unknown. In the case of one patient described in the literature, the first symptoms appeared some time after suffering from a cold.
Has the virus caused any mutation? It is also unknown, although the most accurate theories point to the malfunctioning of brain centres in the hypothalamus. Other authors have linked this syndrome to endogenous psychosis due to the appearance of affective and schizophrenic symptoms.
Can you imagine how or in what mood these people wake up after sleeping for seven, eight, or even 13 days? Will they wake up in a bad or good mood? Well, you'll be surprised!
One of the synonyms for the disease is the code “Hypersomnia and Hyperphagia Syndrome”. A voracious appetite. If I slept for two days I would wake up wanting to eat. But the most interesting part comes next, these patients wake up with an unbridled libido, a hypersexuality that experts relate to disorders of the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that is at the base of the brain and regulates functions such as sleep, thirst or appetite.
Are patients getting worse and sleeping more and more? That is the most logical way of thinking, but it is not always the case. The first thing to clarify is that there is no effective treatment so far, however lithium salts have shown improvement in those affected. Fortunately, in most cases, Kleine Levin syndrome has been seen to disappear or mitigate with advancing age.