What does lethargic sleep mean? What is the difference between lethargy and coma? The borderline between life and death

Lethargy is shrouded in numerous secrets and myths. Even in ancient times, cases of the resurrection of the “dead” or burial alive were known. WITH medical point vision, lethargic sleep is a very serious illnesses. In this state, the body freezes, all metabolic processes are suspended. There is breathing, but it is almost impossible to notice. No reaction to environment. Let's try to understand the main causes of the disease and how it can be prevented.

According to modern idea, lethargy belongs to serious diseases with several clinical signs. Let's look at them in more detail:

Sudden slowdown in functions internal organs, as well as metabolism.
Breathing is not visually detected.
No or suppressed response to external stimuli(light, sound), painful sensations.
The aging process slows down. But after awakening, a person quickly catches up with biological age.

There is still no clear answer why a person falls into lethargic sleep. Let's consider the main versions of scientists.

Causes of imaginary death

In fact, it has been proven that lethargy has nothing to do with physiological sleep. A study of the results of electroencephalograms showed that all biocurrents correspond to the indicators in a state of wakefulness. Besides, human brain able to react in lethargy to external stimuli.

According to contemporaries, lethargy occurs at an extreme stage hysterical neurosis. Therefore, the disease is also called “hysterical lethargy.” This theory is supported by several well-known facts:

Imaginary death occurs after a strong nervous shock. After all, people prone to hysteria overreact even to the most trivial everyday problems.
On initial stage the sympathetic nervous system (which is responsible for conducting impulses to various internal organs) responds to the process, as in normal stressful situation. Rising blood pressure, body temperature, respiratory rate and heart function increase.
Statistical studies have established that lethargic sleep often occurs in young women. It is this category that is susceptible to hysterical neuroses.

Indeed, a woman named Nadezhda Artemovna Lebedina, who slept for 20 years, was included in the Guinness Book of Records. After awakening in 1974, she was declared completely healthy.

But there are also other world famous male representatives who have suffered a terrible fate. After the service, the English priest plunged into lethargy for 6 days. According to legend, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was found during reburial in an unusual position and with torn clothes. Scientists also explain the illness of these individuals by moral experiences associated with their occupation.

Not a single scientist undertakes to claim to have uncovered the secret of lethargy. There are people who have repeatedly fallen into hysterical sleep. They even learned to predict the condition in advance based on certain signs.

Basic theories and hypotheses

As a result of research, scientist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov came to the conclusion that lethargic sleep occurs as the body’s response to overexcitation in the cerebral cortex, as well as subcortical formations. A weak nervous system is especially susceptible to the influence of irritants.

Experiments on animals have shown that when exposed to a certain pathogen, at the initial stage it is activated defense mechanism. Then the subjects (dogs) froze motionless, as they lost their conditioned and unconditioned reflexes. All vital processes were fully restored only after fourteen days.

There is also alternative theory. The occurrence of lethargy is associated with genetics. Dysfunction of the aging gene (autosomal recessive inheritance) explains the rarity of the disease.

Proponents of the infectious theory are of the opinion that lethargic sleep is caused by bacteria, as well as exposure to viral particles. The culprits of the disease are considered to be diplococcus bacteria and a virus. spanish flu. Immune system In some individuals, it is built in such a way that protective cells allow infection into the CNS (central nervous system) at the site of inflammation.

You can learn medical facts about lethargic sleep from the story:

Borderline state between life and death

The existence of such a disease terrifies many people. For example, in England, it is established at the legislative level to ensure the presence of bells in the morgue. Man after waking up from lethargic sleep will be able to call for help. In Slovakia, a cell phone is placed in the coffin of the deceased.

Impressionable people are affected by the phobia of fear of death and the possibility of being buried alive. Such a condition as taphophobia has received widespread. But the probability of burying a living person in modern world reduced to zero for several reasons. Let's look at them in more detail.

Mild and severe forms of hysterical sleep are known. In the first case, in a person, despite visible oppression important functions, signs of life can be easily recognized. Decline muscle tone, and also immobility occurs against the background of even breathing.

In severe cases, the person may appear to have died. It is quite difficult to determine the pulse and recognize breathing. Skin become pale and cold. There is no reaction of the pupils to light. No response to painful stimuli. But deep lethargic sleep, despite the rarity of the phenomenon, is easily diagnosed by a doctor.

In modern medical institutions There is sufficient quantity equipment and knowledge to reliably ascertain death. Doctors can carry out an instrumental method of assessing the vital activity of internal organs to record the biocurrents of the heart using an electrocardiogram. Brain activity is checked by electroencephalography.

By directly examining a person using a simple mirror, breathing can be detected. But this method does not always work. Heart sounds are also heard.

During lethargic sleep, a small incision or puncture of the fingertip will cause capillary bleeding.

In fact, a lethargic state should not be scary. Sleep does not pose a danger to human life. All organs continue to function. Prolonged lethargy leads to exhaustion. Therefore, such people are provided with artificial nutrition. With proper care, even after a long sleep, all functions of the internal organs can be fully restored.

Lethargic sleep and coma: the difference

These diseases can be confused. But they are very different. Coma arises as a result physiological disorders (severe damage or injury). The nervous system does not work at full strength, and vital functions are supported by special devices. In a coma, a person is unable to respond to external stimuli.

A person is able to independently emerge from lethargic sleep after some time. To restore consciousness after a coma, a long course of therapy will be required.

How to prevent lethargy?

Doctors cannot come to a consensus about the cause of the disease. Therefore, even now there is no uniform method of treating and preventing lethargy. According to reports, people should follow several rules to avoid apathetic as well as lethargic attacks.

Lethargic sleep is one of the sleep disorders that is extremely rare. The duration of this condition can last from several hours to several days, less often - up to several months. There are only a few dozen cases recorded in the world where lethargic sleep lasted several years.

The longest “sleep hour” was recorded in 1954 for Nadezhda Lebedina, who woke up only twenty years later.

Causes

Today, medicine cannot yet answer with certainty what causes this condition. Based on many data, lethargic sleep is primarily caused by the emergence of a deep inhibitory process occurring in the part of the brain. Most often, this disorder occurs after suffering severe and emotional shocks, nervous imbalance, hysteria, and against the background of physical exhaustion.

Such a dream ends as suddenly as it began.

Symptoms of lethargic sleep

The symptoms of lethargic sleep disorder are quite simple. A man sleeps without being disturbed physiological processes(you don’t want to eat, drink, get up, and so on), the metabolism in the body decreases. The patient has practically no reactions to external stimuli.

Mild cases of lethargic sleep are characterized by immobility of the patient, while his eyes are closed, his breathing is even, not interrupted, his muscles are completely relaxed. In this form, this type of disorder looks like just a full-fledged deep sleep.

The severe form has distinctive features:

Muscular hypotonia;
Paleness of the skin;
There is no reaction to external stimuli;
Blood pressure is reduced;
Some reflexes are missing;
The pulse is practically undetectable.

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

Diagnosis of the disease

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

Conduct any research or laboratory tests not possible. In this case, all that remains is to wait until the patient wakes up and independently talks about his feelings.

Treatment methods

Actually, treatment methods are purely individual. With lethargic sleep, there is no need to hospitalize the patient. It is enough to simply leave him under the careful supervision of family and friends. It is worth noting that a person with this disorder should be provided normal conditions vital activity in order to avoid subsequent problems upon awakening. What does it mean?

A special painful state of a person, reminiscent of deep sleep. A person can remain in a state of lethargic sleep from several hours to several weeks, and in exceptional cases it can last for years.

Causes.

Transferred strong emotional stress;

Some features of the human psyche;

Head injuries severe bruises brain, car accidents;

Stress from losing loved ones.

There are cases where people were put into a state of lethargy through hypnotic influence.

Some doctors believe that the cause is a metabolic disorder, while others see this as a type of sleep pathology.

Possible complications. If the immobile state lasts for a long time, then the person returns from it, having received complications such as vascular atrophy, bedsores, septic lesion bronchi and kidneys.

Symptoms Lethargic sleep is characterized by:

lack of response to any external stimuli,

complete immobility,

a sharp slowdown in all life processes.

Human consciousness in a state of lethargy, he usually remains, he is able to perceive and even remember events around him, but is not able to react in any way. This condition should be distinguished from narcolepsy and encephalitis.

In the most severe cases, the picture is observed imaginary death: the skin turns pale and cold, the reaction of the pupils to light stops, pulse and breathing are difficult to determine, blood pressure drops and even strong painful stimuli do not cause a response. For several days a person cannot eat or drink, the excretion of feces and urine stops, severe dehydration of the body and weight loss occur.

In milder cases of lethargy, breathing remains even, muscles relax, and sometimes the eyes roll back and the eyelids tremble. But the ability to swallow and make chewing movements is preserved, and the perception of the environment may also be partially preserved. If feeding the patient is impossible, then it is done using a special probe.

Diagnostics. Many people are afraid of being buried alive, but modern medicine knows how to prove whether a person is alive. To do this, the doctor conducts electrophysiological studies of the heart and brain, so you can learn about the work of the heart and brain activity. When a person is in a lethargic sleep, the indicators involve the weak functioning of the organs.

Medical experts must carefully examine the patient, looking for signs that are characteristic of death - rigor, cadaveric spots. If there are no signs described above, they can make a small incision, examine the blood, and check its circulation.

Treatment. Lethargic sleep does not require treatment. The patient, as a rule, does not need to be hospitalized; he remains at home, among family and friends. No need for medications; food, water, vitamins are administered to him in dissolved form. The most important thing in this condition is the care that relatives should provide: hygiene procedures, compliance with temperature conditions.

The patient should be in a separate room so that he is not disturbed by surrounding noise - most of those who emerged from lethargic sleep say that they heard everything, but could not answer. Any action in caring for a patient must be reviewed by a doctor - we're talking about about very unusual illness, little studied and incomprehensible even to the scientific world, therefore even the smallest care, such as temperature, environment, lighting, must be taken into account.

Prevention. A unified method for the treatment and prevention of lethargy has not been developed. According to reports, people should follow several rules to avoid apathetic as well as lethargic attacks:

1. Avoid direct exposure sun rays in hot and humid weather;

2. Drink enough liquid (preferably plain boiled water);

3. Limit the intake of sweet foods and foods containing starch, include as much plant fiber in the diet as possible;

4. Avoid lack of sleep and do not sleep too long;

5. Do not use at the same time medicines and alcoholic drinks.

Lethargic sleep is one of the most unknown and least studied phenomena human body. It is so rare that the concept itself has acquired a magical aura. This phenomenon has a second name - imaginary death, and this is quite understandable. Despite the fact that the person is not dead, he falls asleep so deeply that it is almost impossible to wake him up. At the same time, everything vital signs It’s not that they stop and stop their activities, but they slow down so much that they can be very difficult to notice. Essentially, they freeze.

Outwardly and at first glance, lethargic sleep (lethargy) is no different from normal sleep. A sleeping person can cause concern to those around him only if he does not wake up during the day, especially if he does not even change his position all this time. Of course, if this is not the result of too much overwork, when a person is able to sleep for a day.

WITH scientific point sight, lethargy is painful condition related to:

emotional shock;
mental disorder;
severe physical (anorexia) or mental exhaustion.

A person stops responding to any irritants, all processes in the body practically stop. Even the pulse and breathing become so weak and superficial that an inexperienced person can mistake this condition for death, although the brain continues to work actively.

More often women, and mostly young ones, fall into lethargy.

Scientists explain “going” into deep sleep as an attempt to isolate oneself from problems and experiences. That is, it's kind of defensive reaction body. Most likely, this is so - there are many known cases when, during strong emotional experiences, a person constantly falls asleep (of course, in this case not lethargic). Similarly, the body defends itself by trying to conserve energy during illness. That is why it is believed that sleep is best medicine.

There is usually no treatment for such conditions. However, with long-term inexplicable dream recommended to pass comprehensive examination to identify true reasons such a long sleep.

Considering that the human brain is still very poorly studied, and all hypotheses are based mostly on assumptions and subjective interpretations of research results, the causes of lethargic sleep are still unknown. Scientists believe that this is the result of a strong slowdown in processes in the cerebral cortex.

However, the main factors that could provoke this condition can be identified:

mental disorder(hysteria, depression, nervous breakdown);
physical exhaustion (prolonged fasting, anorexia, severe blood loss);
a rare form of streptococcus that causes tonsillitis.

According to the observations of scientists, lethargy is often inherent in people who have had a sore throat, and the infection had a special, rather rare form. It is believed that it is this infection that causes lethargy.

Despite the fact that outwardly lethargy looks the same as normal sleep, it is a completely different process. Until a certain time, it was impossible to distinguish between them - the only difference could be only the duration of such “sleep,” which sometimes cost people their lives. Fortunately, modern technology and advances in medicine over many years have made it possible to distinguish between normal sleep, lethargy, coma and death.

There are two ways to help determine for sure that a person is at least alive:

Electroencephalogram.
Pupil reaction to light.

The first case is more scientific and, naturally, more reliable. Its essence lies in the fact that the encephalograph records nerve impulses in the brain. During normal sleep, the brain is at rest, or at least less active than during wakefulness. When a person dies, his brain also dies, that is, no activity will be recorded. But during lethargic sleep, when a person seems to be just sleeping, his brain works the same way as in active phase. It is in such a situation that lethargy can be stated or at least assumed.

Interestingly, waking up from a lethargic sleep is as sudden and unpredictable as falling asleep.

The reaction of the pupils is the easiest way to understand whether a person is alive. If he has fallen into a lethargic sleep, then, as already mentioned, the body’s activity does not stop, so the pupils will react to the stimulus in any case, even if the other receptors have turned off.

It is possible to clearly record the symptoms of lethargic sleep mainly only when it manifests itself in acute form.

The condition is characterized the following signs:

Cold and pale skin.
Hypotension muscle tissue.
Reduced blood pressure.
Weak pulse (up to 2-3 beats per minute).
Exchange processes are slowing down.

When similar condition occurs in a milder form, the person retains chewing reflexes, the eyelids twitch in response to light. The brain is in an active phase.

It is possible to distinguish lethargic sleep from coma only instrumental methods. During coma, the activity of the central nervous system is suppressed nervous system and reflexes, many body functions are blocked, breathing and blood circulation are impaired. In lethargic sleep, even in severe form, this is not observed.

It is known that many famous people They were very afraid of the state of lethargic sleep. This was mainly due to the fear of being buried alive. The most famous story of this nature talks about the famous mystical writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The writer bequeathed to bury him only when traces of decomposition of the corpse become noticeable. According to Gogol scholars, he really suffered from the fact that he periodically fell into a lethargic sleep, hence the fear. At one time there was even a version that he was actually buried in lethargy, and when he woke up, he suffocated in the grave from lack of oxygen.

But this is nothing more than a fictional, albeit interesting, story. The writer was a famous mystic and was not afraid to describe in his works characters that others were afraid to even mention in their thoughts. Such fame as a writer made this story more believable. In fact, Gogol died from psychosis, which he suffered, probably due to his phobia.

Another famous case- the awakening of the medieval poet Francesco Petrarch while preparing his own funeral. The poet, however, fell asleep for only 20 hours. After this incident he lived another 30 years.

There are cases of the last decade when people came to life in the morgue or were buried alive, but were removed from the coffin literally immediately because they began to make sounds. The coffin was immediately opened, but in none of these cases the person could be saved. The main characters of such stories were people different ages and different genders.

Another interesting fact has been used many times in cinema and literature. When a person fell asleep for several decades, and woke up in a completely new, changed world. The curious thing in this case is that over all these years he did not turn into a decrepit old man, but woke up at the same age at which he fell asleep. There is obviously some truth in this phenomenon, at least this phenomenon can be explained - since all processes in the body slow down almost to a standstill, it is logical that the aging process also freezes.

The longest sleep was recorded for a resident of the Dnepropetrovsk region. She quarreled with her husband and fell into lethargy for 20 years, after which she woke up. This incident occurred in 1954 and was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

After some time, the same phenomenon occurred in Norway. The woman fell into a lethargic sleep after giving birth and slept for 22 years, and when she woke up, she looked just as young. However, after a year she appearance changed and became age appropriate.

Another incident occurred in Turkestan. The four-year-old girl who fell asleep was buried by her parents, thinking that she had died. But that same night they had a dream that their daughter was alive. So, the girl slept for another 16 years, being all this time at a research institute, after which she woke up and felt quite well and could walk normally. According to the girl’s stories, she lived in her dream and communicated with her ancestor.

Lethargic sleep (lethargy, imaginary death) is a rare sleep disorder that manifests itself in a state resembling “deep sleep.” In a state of this type of sleep, a person is completely motionless, he has no reaction to external stimuli and all his life processes slow down, in fact the person resembles a “lifeless body”. Lethargic sleep can last from a couple of hours to several years. There is even a known case in which a person slept for decades. However, it is worth noting that lethargic sleep in itself is extremely rare disease, and its long-term manifestation is even more rare.

REASONS FOR LETHRAGIC SLEEP

Install today exact reasons the development of lethargic sleep failed.

It is not uncommon for lethargic sleep to occur after a person has experienced severe stress. Lethargic sleep often occurs in people who are more susceptible to stress and have a tendency to hysterics. Most often, this type of dream occurs in hysterical women.

The causes of lethargic sleep also include:

sleeping sickness;
stress, hysteria, physical exhaustion;
hypnosis;
head injuries;
brain diseases;

SYMPTOMS AND COURSE OF LETARGIC SLEEP

The symptoms of this disorder are not varied. Before falling into lethargic sleep, people experience a slowdown in metabolic processes, breathing slows down so that it is not visible at a glance, and a lack of response to pain and other external stimuli.

While a person is in lethargic sleep, he is not an old woman, but upon awakening, he quickly catches up with all his biological years.

People who are in a lethargic sleep under certain circumstances perceive the events happening around them, but cannot react to them. This condition should be distinguished from encephalitis.

At mild form lethargy, the patient looks like a sleeper deep sleep person. His breathing is easy, his muscles are relaxed, his temperature is slightly lower, but he still has swallowing and chewing functions.

At severe form a person’s temperature drops sharply, a person can go without food for several days, the discharge of urine and feces stops, muscle hypotonia, blood pressure decreases, the pulse is difficult to palpate, the skin turns pale, there is no reaction to painful stimuli, the reaction of the pupils to light disappears, dehydration and other signs occur.

If feeding a patient in the usual ways is impossible, then a special probe is used.

Due to prolonged sleep, a person waking up receives a whole bunch of different negative consequences caused by prolonged immobility.

TREATMENT OF LETARGIC SLEEP

Lethargic sleep does not require immediate hospitalization of the patient. The patient must be kept under constant monitoring in order to provide him with all living conditions. It is extremely important to provide the patient proper nutrition and the volume of fluid consumed, isolate it from extraneous irritating noises, change bed linen, maintain a comfortable temperature, warm it up in cold weather, and avoid overheating the patient in hot weather. Fortified food should be given to the patient in liquid form. Also, do not forget about hygiene care for the sick.

BURIATION ALIVE

In lethargic sleep, a person is immobilized, does not respond to stimuli, it is almost impossible to feel the pulse, breathing slows down and even the heartbeat is almost not noticeable.

People who lived in ancient times had a fear of being buried alive. In Germany in the 18th century, the Duke of Mecklenburg on his estates even introduced a ban on burying a person less than three days after death. After a short time, this rule spread beyond the domain of one duke, and began to spread across the continent.

Over time, or rather already in the 19th century, special coffins began to appear, which were designed so that a person could survive in them for some time and send a signal through a special tube that came out of the coffin to the surface that he was alive. Also, for some time after the funeral, priests visited the graves. Their duties included sniffing the tube that came out of the coffin, and if he did not smell the smell of cadaveric decomposition, then the grave was opened to make sure whether the person had really died.

Also, sometimes a bell was attached to the tubes in the coffins, so that the person who woke up in the coffin could give a signal by ringing them.