42-Year-Old Man Sleeps For 300 Days A Year; Family Feeds And Bathes Him While Asleep

A 42-year-old man suffers from a rare neurological disorder that has left him sleeping for 300 days a year for the past two decades. He was diagnosed with the medical condition Axis Hypersomnia 23 years ago.

Though he owns a grocery shop, Pukharam, from the Indian state of Rajasthan, can barely lead a productive life, reports India Today.

It all started when Pukharam started dozing off while at work. His sleep cycle would be such that he would sleep for 15 hours a day. By 2015, the sleep hours turned longer and that's when the family began taking it seriously. They sought medical guidance, which led to the diagnosis.

"Initially, he used to sleep for over 5 to 7 days in one go. Worried about this, we sought medical help, but his disease could not be cured. Gradually, his condition aggravated, and his periods of sleep increased and now he sleeps for 20-25 days a month," the report quoted a relative of Pukharam.

Axis Hypersomnia is a chronic neurological sleep disorder that leads to daytime sleepiness and/or long sleep hours - more than 9-10 hours in 24-hours. According to doctors, this can be due to sleep disorders, head injury, using certain medications, having depression, or other genetic reasons. Axis Hypersomnia also occurs due to fluctuations in the protein of the brain that is known as TNF-alpha.

Today, his condition is such that his family members have to bathe and feed him while he is asleep. He often loses the count of days he slept and even while he is awake, Pukharam is fatigued most of the time, and cannot be productive. He also experiences severe headaches despite taking medications.

According to the family, doctors in India have no cure for his condition. But, his wife Lichmi Devi and mother Kanvari Devi hope that he recovers soon and lives a normal life like before.

A similar case was reported in the U.K. some years ago. Beth Goodier from Stockport suffered from an extremely rare Kleine-Levin Syndrome, which causes her to sleep for up to 22 hours a day for weeks at a time. Dubbed "sleeping beauty syndrome," Kleine-Levin Syndrome has no known cure but those affected by the condition can eventually grow out of it.

Another teen from Colombia, Sharik Tovar, has also been reported to suffer from the syndrome wherein she drops into bouts of sleep that can last for days, weeks, or even months.