Study targets Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
27-05-2010
A new clinical study into the condition of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) has been announced this week, in a bid to increase understanding and treatment of the disorder.
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness is a debilitating condition that ranges from a regular urge to nap to frequent spells of irresistible ‘attacks’ of tiredness several times a day. Sufferers are often mistaken for being intoxicated due to the extreme way that the disorder affects control of faculties. As sufferers experience sleep regularly during the day, their night-time sleep patterns are typically disturbed and erratic.
When associated with the chronic sleeping condition narcolepsy, EDS can be considered a particularly dangerous disorder, as everyday activities such as driving or climbing stairs become potentially life-threatening incidents.
The study will involve narcolepsy patients aged between 18 and 55 who have suffered EDS, and is based around the performance of new treatments.
“The quality of life for people with Excessive Daytime Sleepiness is hindered as it can affect the ability to function in family, social, occupational or other settings, “ said Andrew D. Krystal MD, MS, Director of the Sleep Research Program and Professor in the Duke University School of Medicine. “Excessive Daytime Sleepiness is beyond a person’s control but we are studying medications that may help with the disorder and a person’s quality of life.”
Excessive Daytime Sleepiness is a debilitating condition that ranges from a regular urge to nap to frequent spells of irresistible ‘attacks’ of tiredness several times a day. Sufferers are often mistaken for being intoxicated due to the extreme way that the disorder affects control of faculties. As sufferers experience sleep regularly during the day, their night-time sleep patterns are typically disturbed and erratic.
When associated with the chronic sleeping condition narcolepsy, EDS can be considered a particularly dangerous disorder, as everyday activities such as driving or climbing stairs become potentially life-threatening incidents.
The study will involve narcolepsy patients aged between 18 and 55 who have suffered EDS, and is based around the performance of new treatments.
“The quality of life for people with Excessive Daytime Sleepiness is hindered as it can affect the ability to function in family, social, occupational or other settings, “ said Andrew D. Krystal MD, MS, Director of the Sleep Research Program and Professor in the Duke University School of Medicine. “Excessive Daytime Sleepiness is beyond a person’s control but we are studying medications that may help with the disorder and a person’s quality of life.”
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