Hypersomnia is a condition where people sleep their lives away, sometimes 20 plus hours a day. This segment follows a young man from Iceland seeking treatment by using a drug cocktail that will allow him to function.

Scientists struggle to ‘awaken’ patients from rare sleep disorders

The waning light of autumn and the rewinding of clocks can throw just about anyone’s sleep out of whack, at least for a little while. But for people with rare sleeping disorders, the struggle never ceases. Patients with idiopathic hypersomnia (IH)—like Victoria Kirby York of Ft. Washington, Maryland—never feel rested, despite sleeping as many as 11 hours in one day. The disorder is a struggle for patient and doctor alike: Researchers are still trying to uncover IH’s most basic biological mechanisms.
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