11 February 2010

Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

If my children are anything to go by it is not uncommon for teenagers to sleep a lot, but 15 year old Louisa Ball from Worthing, West Sussex is exceptional. She suffers from a rare condition known as Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS), or Sleeping Beauty Syndrome as it is otherwise known, and can sleep for periods of up to two weeks at a time!

The cause of KLS is unknown although it does appear that the onset of the condition coincides in most cases with a cold or infection and that this affects the part of the brain that regulates sleep. In the case of Louisa, the prolonged sleeps began in 2008 when she was recovering from a bout of flu.

Although highly debilitating when it occurs, sufferers of KLS generally average six months between bouts, during which time their sleep patterns are perfectly normal.

However, the good news for Louisa is that in the vast majority of cases, the syndrome disappears in teenage sufferers by the time they reach their twenties.

Click here for more information on KLS.

 
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