Excessive sleepiness: are you always tired? Doctors may finally have a cure
Age: First described in 1976.
Appearance: You, asleep in the clothes you went to work in.
Surely it's natural to feel a bit sleepy during the day? Yes, but that isn't what this is. The important part of the equation is the 'excessive'. If you're always falling asleep outside bedtime hours, that's a problem.
Oh, you really do mean excessive. Yes. And it's a condition recognised by the NHS, with the medical name hypersomnia.
Narcolepsy? No, narcolepsy is a neurological condition that causes people to suddenly fall into deep sleeps. Hypersomnia is where you're so tired that you keep drifting off.
Now I'm worried that I may have it. Well, answer me this: do you eat a lot of cheese, gherkins and smoked meat?
Now you mention it, I do maintain a primarily charcuterie-based diet. Well, that might be your problem. Researchers from Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston have claimed that hypersomnia may have a lot to do with our metabolism.
Worrying. Not really. The researchers say that the metabolite tyramine is a factor. Tyramine is found in overripe food, aged cheese, smoked meat and some alcoholic drinks.
Wow, medieval kings must have been absolutely knackered all the time. It's suggested that if people feel constantly sleepy, they should ditch these foods and adopt a diet of seeds, nuts and vegetable oils.
And the result is that you'll have more hours in the day to eat all this boring food? Exactly. Don't dismiss hypersomnia, though. There is a test you can take, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, to discover if your napping is a problem or not.
I just scored really highly on it. The NHS recommends that you should see your GP if you fall asleep during the day too often.
Why bother? I'll just lay off the gouda and everything will be dandy. Out of interest, do you snore a lot?
How rude! Maybe. If you do, you may have sleep apnoea, and your daytime sleepiness could be down to your inability to reach a point of deep, restorative sleep at night. Also, are you depressed?
Isn't everyone? That's another potential cause of hypersomnia.
What if I'm depressed because someone from Boston just told me that I can't eat so much antipasti? Oh dear, that means you're trapped in a rare but dangerous hypersomnia loop. Maybe just give in to it. Nothing wrong with an impromptu nap, is there?
I'm a commercial airline pilot. Forget everything I just said. Eat these seeds immediately.
Do say: 'Smoked meat causes excessive daytime sleepiness.'
Don't say: 'And also cures it, if you use a Peperami to prop your eyelids open.'
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