Fifteen year old, British citizen, Louisa Ball has Kleine-Levin Syndrome. Kleine-Levin Syndrome, nicknamed Sleeping Beauty Sickness, is a rare illness where people will randomly sleep for days on end. It's not like narcolepsy due to the fact that it's not constant, there are time periods where the person is able to fully function, and Kleine-Levin Syndrome starts abruptly and tends to end as abruptly, approximately a decade after it starts. This illness only effects a minute fraction of the population, possibly less than a thousand, because of this and it's unpredictability scientists haven't been able to study it a whole lot. Practically nothing is known about it. There is also no known treatment.
The girl's mother reported to NBC news that Louisa had her first bout of sleeping for days on end shortly after experiencing flu-like symptoms just over a year ago. Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, director of the Center for Narcolepsy at Stanford University, told TODAY's Matt Lauer that scientists have no idea what causes Kleine-Levin Syndrome. There is a theory that it may be due to a viral infection that flares up unpredictably off and on until the body finally becomes immune to it. Those who suffer from Kleine-Levin Syndrome can sometimes go weeks, months, or even as long as a year in between episodes.
The longest Miss Louisa Ball has slept at this point is thirteen days at a time. Her parents have to fight to wake her up long enough to go to the bathroom and eat. They say that no amount of poking or prodding can fully awaken Louisa, she just has to wake on her own. Luckily her friends are supportive of her illness and fill her in on anything she misses during her bouts of Kleine-Levin, but school has become a struggle. With scientists stumped, it looks like this Sleeping Beauty won't have a Prince Charming anytime soon, with perhaps time as the only antidote.
Reference: MSNBC.com
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