Characteristics and causes of sudden hypersomnia… Too much sleep is one of the causes.
It is estimated that 2 to 5 out of 100,000 people suffer from sporadic hypersomnia. This number is about a tenth of narcolepsy. Among patients with sporadic hypersomnia, the ratio of people with long sleep hours at night and those with normal sleep hours is about 1:2. There is no clear difference in incidence between men and women, but there are reports that there are many in women.
It often develops at a young age of 10 to 25 years old, and it is also characterized by slow progress compared to narcolepsy. When the symptoms calm down, oversleep often lasts for a long time, but sometimes it can heal itself.
Sleep is also caused by the suppression of the “sleeping brain” in the brain. In sporadic hypersomnia, the function of this “sleeping brain” is considered to be too strong to be attacked by strong sleepiness during the day. On the other hand, in narcolepsy, the “olexin nerve” that awakens the brain is malfunctioning and a strong sleepiness occurs.
People with hypersomnia are easy to misunderstand as if they are dozing off from the outside, but they are in a state where they can’t help falling asleep under the command of the brain. There are 15 to 25 percent of people who get depressed when they are having a hard time without being understood by school or company.
Treatment for Ididophilia.
In addition to interviews and consultation, specialist tests such as sleep polygraph tests (PSG) and repeated sleep potential tests (MSLT) are conducted to diagnose sporadic hypersomnia. Long sleepers (long sleepers), who need more than 10 hours of sleep every day, may have similar symptoms, and caution is needed in diagnosis.
Treatment is a symptom therapy because the causes and mechanisms of the disease are not yet well known. Especially important is life guidance to develop the right sleeping habits.
Treatment with drugs has not yet been established, but mental stimulators such as modafinil are used, just like narcolepsy. Modafinil is used as a first-line drug overseas because it has fewer side effects than other drugs. Some report that taking modafinil is effective in about 60 percent of patients and relieves symptoms in about 10 percent of patients.