Anuradha Varanasi
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Written By: Anuradha Varanasi | Updated : February 22, 2017 5:13 PM IST
Countless articles will tell you how important it is to get adequate sleep and how insomnia can adversely affect your health in the long run. It s a known fact that sleeping has many health benefits and is essential for your survival. However, very few people think about the other extreme, which is sleeping for more than nine hours a day and still feeling groggy, tired and very drowsy throughout the day.
It is estimated that 4% to 6% of general population suffer from hypersomnia or excessive sleepiness that has an impact on their everyday life [1]. If you have been sleeping for at least 10-12 hours every night and still wake up feeling tired and fatigued, it is time to re-evaluate your sleeping cycles and consult a sleep specialist. Here s how too much sleep can be harmful for your health in the long run.
It is important not to take over sleeping lightly because hypersomnia has been linked to strokes and neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer s disease and Parkinson s disease, among other lifestyle diseases [1]. These are the different types of hypersomnia you should be aware about that will help you tackle the problem:
Nacrolepsy is a rare and chronic neurological disorder that afflicts only 0.026% of the general population [1]. It is caused by the inability to maintain normal sleep-wake cycles and causes excessive daytime sleepiness. Another common symptom of narcolepsy is cataplexy which is a sudden loss of voluntary muscular tone caused by strong emotions like laughter, anger or excitement. It resembles a seizure and could happen suddenly.
Nacrolepsy patients also suffer from hallucinations at the time of sleep or even while they are awake, sleep paralysis and poor sleep quality. The symptoms of this type of hypersomnia begin in adolescence and the cause is still unknown. This sleep disorder tends to be misdiagnosed by many doctors and can only be diagnosed by a sleep specialist with the help of some tests. As of now, there is no cure for narcolepsy but symptoms like cataplexy and daytime sleepiness can be controlled with the help of medications.
Idiopathic hypersomnia
This is another rare condition and studies have found that it is 10 times less frequent than narcolepsy. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders defines idiopathic hypersomnia as a normal or prolonged nocturnal sleep episode that is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness. Unlike narcolepsy patients, those suffering from idiopathic hypersomnia sleep normally during night time and despite that oversleep during the day by at least one or two hours and have excessive daytime sleepiness [1].
This tends to directly affect the patient s professional life as a need for more than 10 hours of sleep a day could also affect one s memory and concentration. There s no cure for idiopathic hypersomnia and the cause is still unknown.
Recurrent hypersomnia
This type of hypersomnia is characterized by recurring episodes of excessive sleepiness that can last for several days or even weeks. Patients can sleep for as long as 18 hours a day and get out of bed only to go to the toilet or eat food. These episodes can take place erratically after a few weeks or months and once they end, the patients have normal sleeping patterns again. Other symptoms include overeating, sexual disinhibition, and irritability [1]. Diagnosing and treating recurrent hypersomnia can be challenging for doctors and stimulants and even lithium have been used .
Reference
1. Dauvilliers Y, Buguet A. Hypersomnia. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 2005;7(4):347-356.
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