Understanding What Is Sleeping Beauty Syndrome In Children

Illustration (Peter Oslanec/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - In fairy tales, you may have heard that there was a princess named Aurora who fell asleep in a long sleep. It turns out that such a condition can also occur in the real world and is known as sleeping princess syndrome. Then, what is this sleeping princess syndrome like?

A person can have this syndrome and can sleep up to 20 hours a day and lasts for months. The medical term for Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS), is a rare disease with symptoms of prolonged sleep.

When suffering from KLS, people can sleep 12-24 hours a day and only wake up to eat or urinate. Uniquely, when they wake up after waking up, their condition is different. They often experience symptoms of disorientation, confusion, hallucinations, and even remain sleepy.

Actually, the cause of sleeping princess syndrome is not known for certain. However, the suspicion is due to possible damage to the hypothalamus and thalamus in the brain. The hypothalamus and thalamus are parts of the brain that regulate sleep and eating patterns.

Other factors can be caused by viruses or autoimmune. Because many people with this syndrome show symptoms of the respiratory tract at the beginning, such as coughs and runny noses.

Sleeping princess syndrome sufferers will experience fairly common symptoms, such as unbearable drowsiness, always wanting to sleep and difficult to control, difficulty getting up early, disorientation and not recognizing the surrounding environment, frequent hallucinations, irritability, fussiness, excessive appetite, often tired and dazed when you wake up.

Other symptoms that may arise include difficulty awakening during sleep, cognitive disorders such as poor concentration, memory problems, and difficulty communicating. Can also experience speech disorders, and decreased understanding.

In some cases, the symptoms of this syndrome will disappear with age. However, stay alert because the symptoms can appear when the child has grown older.