Lethargic sleep in our time. How is lethargic sleep recognized and distinguished from death? Signs of lethargic sleep

04.07.2020

Lethargic sleep is a rare sleep disorder. Its duration ranges from several hours to several days, much less often - up to several months. The longest lethargic sleep was recorded in Nadezhda Lebedina, who fell into it in 1954 and woke up only 20 years later. Other cases of prolonged lethargic sleep have also been described. However, it should be noted that long-term lethargic sleep is extremely rare.

Causes of lethargic sleep

The causes of lethargic sleep have not yet been fully established. Apparently, lethargic sleep is caused by the occurrence of a pronounced deep and diffuse inhibitory process in the subcortex and cerebral cortex. Most often, it comes suddenly after severe neuropsychic shock, with hysteria, against the background of severe physical exhaustion (significant blood loss after childbirth). Lethargic sleep stops as suddenly as it began.

Symptoms of lethargic sleep

Lethargic sleep is manifested by a pronounced weakening of the physiological manifestations of life, a decrease in metabolism, inhibition of the reaction to stimuli or its complete absence. Cases of lethargic sleep can be mild or severe.

In mild cases of lethargic sleep, a person is immobile, his eyes are closed, breathing is even, stable and slow, the muscles are relaxed. At the same time, the chewing and swallowing movements are preserved, the pupils react to light, the person's eyelids "twitch", elementary forms of contact of the sleeping person with the surrounding persons can be preserved. Mild lethargic sleep resembles signs of deep sleep.

Lethargic sleep in severe form has more pronounced symptoms. There is a pronounced muscle hypotonia, the absence of some reflexes, the skin is pale, cold to the touch, pulse and breathing are determined with difficulty, there is no pupil response to light, blood pressure is reduced, and even strong pain stimuli do not cause a reaction in a person. Such patients do not drink or eat, their metabolism slows down.

Lethargic sleep does not require any special treatment, but in any case, the patient should be monitored for a long sleep by a doctor with a thorough examination. If necessary, symptomatic treatment is prescribed. Nutrition is carried out with easily digestible food rich in vitamins; in the absence of the opportunity to feed a person in a natural way, the nutritional mixture is introduced through a tube. The prognosis for lethargic sleep is favorable, there is no danger to the patient's life.

Sleep or coma?

Lethargic sleep should be distinguished from coma and a number of other conditions and diseases (narcolepsy, epidemic encephalitis). This is especially important since the approaches to their treatment differ significantly.

Lethargic sleep is one of the very rare sleep disorders. The duration of such a state can last from several hours to several days, less often - up to several months. In the world, only a few dozen cases have been recorded when lethargic sleep lasted for several years.

The longest "sleepy hour" was recorded in 1954 at Nadezhda Lebedina, who woke up only twenty years later.

Causes of occurrence

The severe form has distinctive features:

Muscular hypotension;
Pallor of the skin;
There is no reaction to external stimuli;
Blood pressure is lowered;
Some reflexes are missing;
The pulse is practically undetectable.

In any case, after waking up, a person should register with a doctor for further monitoring of his body.

Diagnosis of the disease

Lethargic sleep should be distinguished from narcolepsy, epidemic and coma. This is very important, since the methods of treatment for all these diseases differ significantly from each other.

It is not possible to carry out any research or laboratory tests. In this case, it only remains to wait for the patient to wake up and independently tell about his feelings.

From a medical point of view, lethargic sleep is a disease. The word "lethargy" itself comes from the Greek lethe (oblivion) \u200b\u200band argia (inaction). In a person who is in a lethargic sleep, the vital processes of the body slow down - the metabolism decreases, breathing becomes superficial and imperceptible, reactions to external stimuli weaken or completely disappear.

Scientists have not established the exact causes of lethargic sleep, however, it was noticed that lethargy can occur after severe hysterical seizures, excitement, stress, with depletion of the body.

Lethargic sleep can be light or heavy. A patient with a severe "form" of lethargy may look like a dead person. His skin grows cold and pale, he does not react to light and pain, breathing is so shallow that it may not be noticeable, and his pulse is practically not felt. His physiological condition deteriorates - he loses weight, biological secretions stop.

Mild lethargy causes less radical changes in the body - the patient remains motionless, relaxed, but he maintains even breathing and partial perception of the world.

The end and beginning of lethargy is impossible to predict. However, like the duration of being in a dream: there have been cases when the patient slept for many years. For example, the famous academician Ivan Pavlov described a case when a certain sick Kachalkin was in a lethargic sleep for 20 years, from 1898 to 1918. His heart beat very rarely - 2/3 times a minute. In the Middle Ages, there were a lot of stories about how people who were in a lethargic sleep were buried alive. These stories often had a real basis and frightened people, so much so that, for example, the writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol asked to bury him only when signs of decomposition appeared on his body. Moreover, during the exhumation of the remains of the writer in 1931, it was found that his skull was turned on its side. Experts explained the change in the position of the skull by the pressure of the rotted coffin lid.

At present, doctors have learned to distinguish lethargy from real death, but they have not yet been able to find a "remedy" for lethargic sleep.

What is the difference between lethargy and coma?

These two physical phenomena have distant properties. Coma occurs as a result of physical stress, injury, injury. At the same time, the nervous system is in a depressed state, and physical life is artificially maintained. As with lethargic sleep, the person does not respond to external stimuli. You can get out of a coma in the same way as with lethargy, on your own, but more often this happens with the help of therapy and treatment.

Burial alive - is it real?

First of all, let us determine that deliberate burial alive is a criminal offense and is regarded as murder with special cruelty (Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

However, one of the most common human phobias, taphophobia, is the fear of being buried alive unintentionally, by mistake. In fact, there is very little chance of being buried alive. Modern science knows how to determine that a person has definitely died.

Firstly, if doctors have a suspicion of the possibility of lethargic sleep, they must remove an electrocardiogram or an electroencephalogram, which records the activity of the human brain and cardiac activity. If a person is alive, such a procedure will give a result, even if the patient does not respond to external stimuli.

Further, medical examiners conduct a thorough examination of the patient's body, in search of signs of death. This can be as obvious damage to the organs of the body that is incompatible with life (for example, head injury), and rigor mortis, cadaveric spots, signs of decay. In addition, a person lies in the morgue for 1-2 days, during which visible cadaveric signs should appear.

If in doubt, capillary bleeding is checked with a slight incision, and a chemical blood test is performed. In addition, doctors check the general picture of the patient's health - there were no signs that may indicate that the patient fell into a lethargic sleep. For example, whether he had hysterical seizures, whether he lost weight, whether he complained of headaches and weakness, or a decrease in blood pressure.

Reading time: 2 minutes

Lethargic sleep is a deviation, a specific condition similar in appearance to deep sleep. At the same time, the subject, who has fallen into lethargy, does not show reactions to stimuli from the outside. This state resembles a coma. All vital signs are preserved, but it is impossible to wake a person up. In severe manifestations, an imaginary death can occur, characterized by a drop in body temperature, a slowdown in the heartbeat and the disappearance of respiratory movements. Today, the concept under consideration is considered an invented state, mainly described in artistic creations and differing from coma by the safety of the vital functions of organs. However, it has long been no secret that the body of human individuals cannot do without drinking for a long period. That is why maintaining life in a protracted unconscious state is impossible without medical assistance.

An individual who is in the described state is immobilized, does not show reactions to external stimuli. At the same time, vital activity is preserved. Breathing becomes slow, the pulse is almost impossible to feel, the heartbeat is also barely noticeable.

The term "lethargy" itself came into use from Latin. Leta means oblivion. This word is familiar to many from the mythological works of antiquity, where the kingdom of the dead and the Leta River flowing in it are mentioned. According to the legends, the deceased, who drank the water from this source, forget everything that happened to them in worldly life. The word "argia" means "torpor". Cases of lethargic sleep have been known in history, so in ancient times there was an irrational being buried alive.

The Duke of Mecklenburg in the distant 18th century, in his own possessions in Germany, forbade the burial of the dead immediately after death. He ruled that from the moment of the declaration of death until the moment of burial, it was necessary to endure three days. From this date, 3 days should have passed. After some time, this rule spread throughout the continent.

In the 19th century, master undertakers developed special "safe" coffins that allow a person who was mistakenly buried to live for some time and even signal their own awakening. So, for example, most often they brought the pipe out of the coffin to the surface of the earth, so that the clergy, who regularly visit the graves, could hear the call of the subject buried alive. In addition, a cadaveric smell should have come out through such a tube if the person was not buried alive. Therefore, if, after a certain time, the smell of decomposition was absent, then the grave had to be opened.

Today, in most European countries, many ways have been developed to avoid burying a person alive. For example, in Slovakia, a telephone is placed in the coffin of the deceased, so that the subject, if he suddenly wakes up, has the opportunity to call and thereby avoid a terrible death, and in Great Britain a bell is used for this purpose.

Examples of lethargic sleep were examined and studied by physiologist I. Pavlov. He examined a man who had been in a state of lethargy for 22 years, who upon awakening told that he was aware of what was happening, heard, but he could not react, say or make a movement. Official medicine recorded the longest episode of lethargic sleep in Dnepropetrovsk. 34-year-old N. Lebedina went to bed after a family conflict, and woke up only after 20 years.

Examples of lethargic sleep can be found in literary works such as "Premature Burial" and "Sleeping Beauty". The earliest mention of lethargy is found in the Bible.

Lethargic sleep today remains a mysterious and poorly understood phenomenon. The reasons for the entry of subjects into such a state are unknown. Some people tend to look for reasons in magic or otherworldly intervention. It's easier for people to blame supernatural forces or deny the possibility of existence when they don't understand something.

Causes of lethargic sleep

Cases of lethargic sleep are known that occur after a person has undergone a serious severe shock, stress. Also, this condition can occur in persons who are on the verge of serious nervous or physical exhaustion. More often lethargy occurs in women with high emotionality, prone to. According to the theory of psychologists, the wonderful world of oblivion awaits persons with excessive emotionality. For them, the state of lethargy is a place where fears, stresses and unresolved problems do not exist. Chronic fatigue syndrome can also be the cause of lethargy.

Some ailments that injure the nervous system, for example, lethargic encephalitis, also lead to the described condition. It is believed that lethargy is caused by the occurrence of a pronounced widespread and deep inhibitory process localized in the subcortex of the brain. The most common factors that give rise to the described condition include severe mental shock, severe exhaustion (for example, due to severe blood loss due to childbirth). In addition, it is possible to artificially enter the subject into a lethargic state through.

Symptoms and signs of lethargic sleep

The disorder in question does not have a variety of symptoms. The individual is asleep, however, physiological processes such as the need for food, water and others do not disturb him. Metabolism in lethargy is reduced. Also, a person has no response to external stimuli at all.

According to modern concepts, lethargy is a serious ailment characterized by several clinical manifestations. In a person, before falling into a lethargic sleep, there is a sudden inhibition of the functioning of organs and metabolic processes. Breathing visually becomes impossible to determine. In addition, the individual stops responding to noise or light effects, to pain.

People who are in a lethargic state do not age. At the same time, after waking up, they rapidly make up for their biological years.

Relatively conditionally, all cases of the described condition can be divided into mild and severe lethargy. It is rather difficult to distinguish between them, as well as to mark the moment of transition of an easy stage into a difficult one. It is known that individuals who are in lethargic sleep retain the ability of what is happening, analysis and the function of memorizing, but there is no ability to react to what is happening.

Mild forms of lethargy are characterized by immobility of the patient, even breathing, relaxed muscles, and a slight drop in temperature. The ability to swallow and chewing function is preserved, physiological functions are also preserved. This form resembles a normal deep sleep.

The peculiarities of the course of a severe form of lethargy include: muscle hypotonia, lack of response to stimulation from the outside, pallor of the epidermis, decreased blood pressure, lack of individual reflexes, difficulty in feeling the pulse, a strong drop in temperature, lack of need for nutrition and physiological functions, mental retardation, dehydration of the body.

What is the difference between lethargic sleep and coma? The disorder in question and coma are two dangerous ailments that often lead to death. At the same time, if an individual is in one of the described conditions, doctors are unable to provide the time frame for getting out of them, guarantees of recovery. This is where the similarities between these disorders end.

Lethargy is a serious illness characterized by a slowdown in metabolism, the disappearance of response to stimuli from the outside, light and difficult to detect breathing. This condition can be observed for several decades.

A coma is an acute pathological condition characterized by the absence, depression of the vital activity of the nervous system, a malfunction in the functioning of the body (respiratory distress, circulatory disorders, abnormalities in metabolism occur). The period of stay in this state cannot be established. It is also impossible to say with certainty whether the individual will regain consciousness or die.

The difference between the ailments under consideration is the way out of them. The individual emerges from lethargy on his own. He just wakes up. Falling into lethargic sleep must be provided with parenteral feeding. It should be turned over, washed, and waste products should be removed in a timely manner. To remove patients from a coma, drug therapy, the use of special equipment and specific methods are required. If an individual who has fallen into a coma is not provided with timely resuscitation measures and support for vital activity is not ensured, then he will die.

An individual, being in a lethargic sleep, breathes on his own, even when breathing is imperceptible. At the same time, his body continues to function normally. In a coma, everything happens differently: the vital activity of the body is disrupted, as a result of which its functioning is ensured by special equipment.

Treatment for lethargic sleep

In order to distinguish lethargy from death, it is necessary to conduct an electrocardiogram or an electroencephalogram. You should also carefully examine the person's torso for injuries that clearly indicate incompatibility with life, or clear signs of death (rigidity). In addition, capillary bleeding can be checked with a small incision.

The therapeutic strategy should be highly individualized. The violation in question does not imply hospitalization of the patient. It is enough if the individual is under the supervision of relatives. A person who is in a state of lethargy, first of all, should provide adequate living conditions in order to minimize the occurrence of side effects upon awakening. Care involves placing a person in a ventilated and carefully cleaned separate room, parenteral feeding (or through a tube), hygiene procedures (the patient must be washed, anti-decubitus measures should be taken). You also need to monitor the temperature regime. If the room is cold, the person should be covered. In case of heat, try not to overheat.

In addition, since there is a version that an individual in a lethargic dream hears everything that happens, it is recommended to talk to him. You can tell him about the events that happened during the day, read literature or sing songs. The main thing is to try to fill his existence with positive feelings.

With a marked decrease in blood pressure, injection of caffeine is indicated. Immunotherapy may sometimes be required.

Due to the lack of complete information about the etiological factor of the disease in question, it is impossible to develop a single therapeutic strategy and preventive measures. The available data only make it possible to understand in order to avoid the state of lethargy, it is necessary to avoid exposure to stressors and strive for a healthy existence.

Physician of the PsychoMed Medical and Psychological Center

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists using the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

Introduction

1. Definition, history and causes of lethargic sleep

2. Symptoms of lethargic sleep

3. Cases of lethargic sleep

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature

Introduction

The topic of this test is lethargic sleep.

This topic is relevant, since it has always excited human minds about whether it is possible for a person to be buried alive.

Such a phenomenon as lethargic sleep has been known to mankind for a long time. A similar phenomenon is extremely rare, but it also occurs today and is characterized by a painful state, very similar to sleep, but with a person's lack of reactions to external stimuli, immobility, etc.

There are known cases from past years when people who fell into a lethargic sleep were buried alive and came to their senses in tombs, crypts, coffins.

Due to the fact that this condition is quite rare, its study is extremely difficult. However, lethargy is known to manifest itself in many different ways. In some cases, the patient has weak signs of life and with due attention it is almost impossible to take such a person for the deceased, even a medieval doctor would determine that the person is alive. However, in some cases, lethargic sleep does feel like death.

Therefore, the purpose of this work is a detailed study of this phenomenon and the identification of differences between lethargic sleep from coma and a number of other conditions and diseases.

The work has several tasks:

Study of the definition, history and causes of lethargic sleep;

Revealing the symptoms of lethargic sleep, distinguishing it from coma and a number of other conditions and diseases;

Consideration of known cases of lethargic sleep.

In writing the work, mainly Internet sources were used.

1. Definition, history and causes of lethargic sleep

Lethargy comes from the Greek lethe (oblivion) \u200b\u200band argia (inaction), a symptom characterized by a complete lack of external reaction, weak pulse and blood pressure. Lethargic sleep usually lasts from several hours to several weeks, and in rare cases, months. It is also observed in a hypnotic state.

Lethargic sleep is a rare sleep disorder. Its duration ranges from several hours to several days, much less often - up to several months.

Lethargy has been known since biblical times. In the Old and New Testaments, you can find a lot of examples of one of the most mysterious and still unexplored diseases. People were always afraid to fall into a lethargic dream, because there was a danger of being buried alive.

An example is the famous Italian poet Francesco Petrarch, who lived in the XIV century, was seriously ill at the age of 40. Once he lost consciousness, he was considered dead and was going to be buried. However, the law of that time forbade the burial of the dead earlier than a day after death. Having woken up almost at his grave, Petrarch said that he felt great. After that, he lived another 30 years.

There is also a version according to which the great Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was buried alive, since the doctors could not distinguish between lethargic sleep and death.

Lethargic sleep stops as suddenly as it began.

2. Symptoms of lethargic sleep

Mild lethargy causes less radical changes in the body: a person is still, his eyes are closed, his breathing is even, stable and slow, his muscles are relaxed. At the same time, the chewing and swallowing movements are preserved, the pupils react to light, the eyelids “twitch” in a person, and the elemental forms of contact between the sleeping person and surrounding people can be preserved. Mild lethargic sleep resembles signs of deep sleep.

Severe lethargic sleep has more pronounced symptoms. A person can become like a dead person. There is a pronounced muscle hypotonia, the absence of some reflexes, the skin is pale, cold to the touch, the pulse is practically not palpable and breathing is so superficial that it is difficult to detect, there is no reaction of the pupils to light, blood pressure is reduced, and even strong pain stimuli do not cause a person reactions. Such patients do not drink or eat, their metabolism slows down, they lose weight, their biological secretions cease.

Treatment, as well as the causes of lethargy, are not fully known to medicine. It is also impossible to predict when the awakening will come. The state of lethargy can last from several hours to tens of years.

Medicine describes cases of people falling into a lethargic sleep due to burnout, large blood loss, hysterical fit, fainting. Interestingly, in case of a threat to life (bombing during the war), those sleeping with a lethargic sleep woke up, could walk, and after shelling fell asleep again.

Nutrition is carried out with easily digestible food rich in vitamins. In the absence of the ability to feed a person in a natural way, the nutrient mixture is administered through a probe. The prognosis for lethargic sleep is favorable, there is no danger to the patient's life.

Coma is an acute developing severe condition of the patient, which is characterized by loss of consciousness, depression of the central nervous system, the absence of reflexes and reactions to external stimuli. In this case, there are increasing disorders of breathing, blood circulation.

Coma is not an independent disease. It occurs as a complication in some diseases with pronounced changes in the function of the central nervous system or as a manifestation of damage (in severe traumatic brain injury) of the structures of the brain. Unlike lethargic sleep, in coma, it is necessary to carry out active therapeutic measures to maintain the most important vital functions of the human body.

Observation and examination, and if necessary, treatment of a patient in a state of lethargic sleep, it is recommended to carry out in specialized medical institutions.

You can get out of a coma in the same way as with lethargy, on your own, but more often this happens with the help of therapy and treatment.

3. Cases of lethargic sleep

The case of the longest officially recorded lethargic dream recorded in the Guinness Book of Records occurred in 1954 with Nadezhda Artemovna Lebedina, who was born in 1920 in the village of Mogilev in the Dnipropetrovsk region precisely because of a strong quarrel with her husband. As a result of the stress Lebedin fell asleep for 20 years and again came to her senses only in 1974. The doctors recognized her as absolutely healthy.

Another unique case was recorded with Augustine Leggard. After the stress of childbirth, the woman fell asleep and ... no longer reacted to injections and blows. But she opened her mouth very slowly when she was fed. 22 years later, however, sleeping Augustine remained just as young. One day the woman suddenly started up and said: "Frederick, it's probably too late, the child is hungry, I want to feed him!" But instead of a newborn baby, she saw a 22-year-old young woman, like two drops like her ... Soon, however, time took its toll: the awakened woman began to age rapidly, a year later she turned into an old woman and died after 5 years.

Also, the famous academician Ivan Pavlov described the case when a certain patient Kachalkin was in a lethargic dream for 20 years, from 1898 to 1918. His heart beat very rarely - 2/3 times a minute.

There are cases when lethargic sleep occurred periodically. One English priest slept six days a week, and on Sunday he got up to eat and pray.

In the Middle Ages, there were a lot of stories about how people who were in a lethargic sleep were buried alive. These stories often had a real basis and frightened people, so much so that, for example, the writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol asked to bury him only when signs of decomposition appeared on his body. Moreover, during the exhumation of the writer's remains in 1931, it was discovered that his skull was turned on its side. Experts explained the change in the position of the skull as the pressure of the rotting coffin lid. lethargic sleep cause symptom

In England, there is still a law according to which all morgue refrigerators must have a bell with a rope so that the revived "deceased" can call for help with a bell ringing.

At the end of the 60s, the first apparatus was created there, which made it possible to capture the smallest electrical activity of the heart. Almost at the very first test in the morgue, a living girl was found among the corpses.

Conclusion

Summarize the test work.

The term lethargy comes from the Greek lethe (oblivion) \u200b\u200band argia (inaction), a symptom characterized by a complete lack of external reaction, weak pulse and blood pressure. Lethargic sleep usually lasts from several hours to several weeks, and in rare cases, months.

The causes of lethargic sleep are still not fully established. Lethargic sleep is caused by the occurrence of a pronounced deep and diffuse inhibitory process in the subcortex and cerebral cortex. Most often, it occurs suddenly after severe neuropsychic shocks, with hysteria, against a background of severe physical exhaustion. Lethargic sleep stops as suddenly as it began.

Lethargic sleep remains a mysterious and unexplored phenomenon. The reasons for the entry of a person into such a state, and exit from it are unknown. Many people think that magic is also involved. However, people often cannot explain something and prefer to write it off as supernatural forces.

List of used sources and literature

Literature:

1. Larchenko N.A. Dictionary of medical terms and basic medical concepts, M .: Phoenix, 2013. - 608 p.

2. Smirnov A.N. Symptoms and syndromes, Moscow: Practical Medicine, 2010 .-- 296 p.

Internet resources:

3. AiF (2013) How is lethargic sleep recognized and distinguished from death? http://www.aif.ru/dontknows/1230167 [electronic resource], open access, date of access: 03/23/2015.

4. AIF (2014) Imaginary death: what is lethargic sleep? http://www.aif.ru/dontknows/1230167 [electronic resource], open access, date of access: 03/23/2015.

Posted on Allbest.ru

Lethargic sleep in our time. How is lethargic sleep recognized and distinguished from death? Signs of lethargic sleep

Causes of lethargic sleep

Symptoms of lethargic sleep

Sleep or coma?

Causes of occurrence

Diagnosis of the disease

What is the difference between lethargy and coma?

Burial alive - is it real?

Causes of lethargic sleep

Symptoms and signs of lethargic sleep

Treatment for lethargic sleep

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Similar documents

Report a typo

Text to be sent to our editors:

Your comment (optional):