Rare Sleep Disorders

Hypersomnia:

It is thought that only about 200 people in the world today are affected by this very rare disorder.

This disorder is characterized by extremely long periods of sleep of up to 18 hours a day.

This pattern of extremely long sleeping hours can go on for many days, or even weeks at a time.

A sufferer can expect to have about 10 such episodes a year.

In the leadup to a Hypersomnia attack there are usually flu like symptoms present accompanied by a very long lasting headache.

The episode itself can cause a sufferer to gain weight and sweat profusely.

Treatment for this very debilitating desease is symptomatic, there is no known cure and is a lifetime condition.

Kleine-Levin:

Kleine-Levin syndrome is a form of hypersomnia and is normally accompanied with excessive food intake (compulsive hyperphagia).

Accompanying this is an abnormally uninhibited sexual drive (hypersexuality).

While some researchers speculate that Kleine-Levin syndrome is caused by a hereditary predisposition, others believe the condition may be the result of an autoimmune disorder.

There is no definitive treatment for Kleine-Levin syndrome. Stimulants, including amphetamines, methylphenidate, imipramine and modafinil, administered orally, are used to treat sleepiness.

Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome:

Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome, also known as free-running type or non-24-hour circadian rhythm disorder, is just one of a number of circadian rhythm disorders and probably the least common and the least likely to be cured.

This rare disorder is characterized by the body not recognizing the 24 hour sleep cycle, as a result the body will not permit itself to sleep in a normal day/night pattern.

Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome causes the sufferers sleep pattern to change every day.

The amount that this changes, depends on how long the sleep cycle is off by. It is like a clock that is gaining an hour a day for instance.

Not too surprisingly this disorder affects blind people to a far larger degree than it does sighted ones.

The brain takes a visual cue from the sun, and if that is missing it is easy to understand how things could go wrong.

It is not totally exclusive to blind people, there are a small number of sighted people known to be afflicted with this disorder.

Treatments for non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome include light therapy with a full spectrum lamp giving—usually—10,000 lux, hypnotics as well as stimulants (to promote sleep and wakefulness, respectively) and melatonin supplements.

REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder:

The thing that defines this disorder is the dreamer's ability to act out their dream.

Under normal circumstances during sleep our muscles are paralyzed (atonia). This is our bodies way of preventing us from hurting ourselves during a very active dream.

When you suffer from rem-sleep behavior disorder, you are able to act out your dream. At times this can be quite disastrous for either the dreamer or their bed partners.

Rem-sleep disorder is treatable, if you are having problems don't worry this is one of the rare sleep disorders that can be cured

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