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Kleine-Levin Syndrome

Recurrent episodes of extreme sleep - up to twenty hours a day for days or weeks - separated by entirely normal periods.

Neurological · Very rare
Published: 18.07.2026
Kleine-Levin Syndrome

It is very rare, estimated at 1-5 cases per million people; between episodes, function is usually full.

How it works

For reasons still unclear, the brain enters phases of deep hypersomnolence, often with confusion, altered perception and changes in appetite. Then the episode ends and everything returns to normal, until the next one.

On the road

During an episode, sleepiness and cognitive disturbance make driving unsafe; but precisely because episodes are clear and recognisable, not driving while they last is the plain preventive measure. Outside the episodes the risk is not raised.

Drive Awake connection

It is the limit case of the hypersomnias: rare, cyclic, almost literary - the sleeping beauty. Drive Awake documents it to complete the map and show the whole spectrum, from the most common to the rarest.

Arnulf I, Zeitzer JM, File J, et al. - Kleine-Levin syndrome: a systematic review of 186 cases. Brain, 2005. DOI 10.1093/brain/awh620
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