A news story from Local6.com discusses a rare and complex neurological disorder that affects people in during adolescence. People with the disorder can stay asleep for as long as two weeks or more and only awake to use the bathroom or eat. During these brief periods of being awake people with KLS do not even know they are awake. The article talks about 20-year-old Spencer Spearin who suffers from the Kleine Levin Syndrome. He is hit with the sleeping syndrome about once every four months.
"I might not be with you for a couple weeks," Spearin said. "I missed my birthday. I missed my graduation. I can't remember what I ate yesterday. I can't remember what I did yesterday."
Many times, the disorder appears after a flu-like illness.
Dr. Emanuel Mignot said patients suffer from periodic episodes of extreme sleepiness and abnormal, child-like behavior.
"They feel like they are in a fog," Mignot said. "They don't know exactly the reality around them. If you try to wake them up they are very irritable."
That's a very frightening disease. The news story also says the brains patterns of people suffering from the disease are very active during the sleeping episodes. You can read more about Kleine Levin Syndrome (KLS) on the Kleine-Levin Syndrome Foundation Inc. website.
