examiner.com
November 19, 2012
By: Kelly George
Nicole Delien is being nick-named "Sleeping Beauty." That's because the 17-year-old has a sleeping disorder that has left her asleep for as long as 64 days at a time.
The Pennsylvania teen and her family are telling their story on "The Jeff Probst Show" in hopes of bringing more awareness to the condition called Kleine-Levin Syndrome, also known as "Sleeping Beauty Syndrome."
Her mother Vicki Delien says that doctors struggled for more than two years to diagnose her teen. The teen once slept from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. The disorder is very difficult on Delien and the whole family.
During her sleep spells she will wake up in a confused state for small periods of time to eat and go to the bathroom and then fall back asleep.
Delien has not been cured of her sleep disorder, however doctors have found a combination of drugs used to treat epilepsy and narcolepsy and reduced the episodes to about two a year.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) says Kleine-Levin Syndrome is characterized by recurring but reversible periods of excessive sleep (up to 20 hours per day). Symptoms occur as "episodes," typically lasting a few days to a few weeks.
November 19, 2012
By: Kelly George
Nicole Delien is being nick-named "Sleeping Beauty." That's because the 17-year-old has a sleeping disorder that has left her asleep for as long as 64 days at a time.
The Pennsylvania teen and her family are telling their story on "The Jeff Probst Show" in hopes of bringing more awareness to the condition called Kleine-Levin Syndrome, also known as "Sleeping Beauty Syndrome."
Her mother Vicki Delien says that doctors struggled for more than two years to diagnose her teen. The teen once slept from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. The disorder is very difficult on Delien and the whole family.
During her sleep spells she will wake up in a confused state for small periods of time to eat and go to the bathroom and then fall back asleep.
Delien has not been cured of her sleep disorder, however doctors have found a combination of drugs used to treat epilepsy and narcolepsy and reduced the episodes to about two a year.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) says Kleine-Levin Syndrome is characterized by recurring but reversible periods of excessive sleep (up to 20 hours per day). Symptoms occur as "episodes," typically lasting a few days to a few weeks.