About kleine-levin syndrome

What is kleine-levin syndrome?

Kleine-Levin syndrome is a rare disorder that primarily affects adolescent males (approximately 70 percent of those with Kleine-Levin syndrome are male).

What are the symptoms for kleine-levin syndrome?

People living with KLS may not experience symptoms every day. In fact, affected individuals typically don’t have any symptoms between episodes. When symptoms do appear, they can last a few days, weeks, or even months.

Common symptoms include extreme sleepiness. There may be a strong desire to go to bed and trouble getting up in the morning.

During an episode, it’s not uncommon to sleep up to 20 hours a day. People living with KLS may get up to use the bathroom and eat, then go back to sleep.

Fatigue can be so severe that people with KLS are bedridden until an episode passes. This takes time and energy away from family, friends, and personal obligations.

Episodes can also trigger other symptoms, such as:

  • hallucinations
  • disorientation
  • irritability
  • childish behavior
  • increased appetite
  • excessive sex drive

This may result from reduced blood flow to parts of the brain during an episode.

KLS is an unpredictable condition. Episodes can recur suddenly and without warning weeks, months, or years later.

Most people resume normal activity after an episode without any behavioral or physical dysfunction. However, they may have little memory of what happened during their episode.

What are the causes for kleine-levin syndrome?

The exact cause of KLS is unknown, but some doctors believe certain factors can increase your risk for this condition.

What are the treatments for kleine-levin syndrome?

There is no definitive treatment for Kleine-Levin syndrome and watchful waiting at home, rather than pharmacotherapy, is most often advised. Stimulant pills, including amphetamines, methylphenidate, and modafinil, are used to treat sleepiness but may increase irritability and will not improve cognitive abnormalities. Because of similarities between Kleine-Levin syndrome and certain mood disorders, lithium and carbamazepine may be prescribed and, in some cases, have been shown to prevent further episodes. This disorder should be differentiated from cyclic re-occurrence of sleepiness during the premenstrual period in teen-aged girls, which may be controlled with birth control pills. It also should be differentiated from encephalopathy, recurrent depression, or psychosis.

What are the risk factors for kleine-levin syndrome?

KLS may arise from an injury in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls sleep, appetite, and body temperature. A possible injury could be falling and hitting your head, although more research is needed to confirm this link.

Some people develop KLS after an infection like the flu. This has led some researchers to believe KLS may be a type of autoimmune disorder. An autoimmune disease is when the body’s immune system attacks its own healthy tissue.

Some incidents of KLS may also be genetic. There are cases where the disorder affects more than one person in a family.

Video related to kleine-levin syndrome