The Woman Who Couldn't Wake Up: Hypersomnia and the Science of Sleepiness

The Woman Who Couldnt Wake Up explores the story of Anna, a young Atlanta lawyer who suffered from idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), a sleep disorder that caused her to sleep for thirty or even fifty hours at a stretch. The book highlights the science behind sleepiness and the experiences of people with IH, showing how investigation of IH could unlock new understandings of how sleep is regulated and controlled. It is a must-read for anyone interested in sleep and sleep disorders.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2023
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Annas life was being consumed by sleep. Despite the use of numerous alarm clocks and potent stimulants, the young Atlanta lawyer could sleep for thirty or even fifty hours at a time. She stopped working and started losing weight because she couldn't stay awake long enough to eat. Annas doctors were at a loss for how to help her until they tried an oddball drug, connected to a hunch that something produced by her body was putting her to sleep.

The Woman Who Couldnt Wake Up tells Annas story, as well as the broader story of her diagnosis, idiopathic hypersomnia (IH), a mysterious sibling of narcolepsy that has emerged as a focus of sleep research and patient advocacy. Quinn Eastman explores the science behind sleepiness, recounting how researchers have been searching for more than a century for the substances that tip the brain into slumber. He argues that the investigation of IH could unlock new understandings of how sleep is regulated and controlled. Eastman highlights the experiences of people with IH, relating how publicity around Annas successful treatment helped others form a community. He shows how a group of patients who felt neglected or dismissed united to steer research toward their little-known disorder. Sharing emerging science and powerful stories, this book testifies to the significance of underrecognized diseases and sheds new light on how our brains function, day and night. It is essential reading for anyone interested in sleep and sleep disorders, including those affected by or seeking to treat them.

Weight: 696g
Dimension: 167 x 242 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231194648