Just five more minutes…and five more…Does that sound like your morning routine? Five minutes of extra sleep may not do much but they do give you an illusion of a good rest. That being said, can you imagine there are actual people who go days, even weeks without sleep?
We’re all aware of insomnia, some more than others, but I’m sure every one of us knows what a sleepless night feels like. Insomnia is not an uncommon disorder but the extent of its danger are not well known. What exactly is insomnia? It’s basically the inability to obtain the amount of sleep required for a person to function like a human and less of a zombie with deep dark circles.
There’s short–term insomnia which can be fixed with a few tweaks in your sleeping routine or with a few melatonin gummies. Chronic insomnia, on the other hand, is a whole another nightmare. This type of insomnia occurs when a person has difficulty in acquiring a sufficient amount of sleep for three or more nights in a week, for three months or longer.
Sleep is already a mystery to scientists since we should’ve evolved to not need so much of it. Humans spend one-third of their lives just lying unconscious, in other words sleeping. It’s a mind-boggling thing to think about.
Let’s look deeper into the effects of chronic insomnia. Firstly, it has been linked to high blood pressure, weight gain and even a weakened immune system. Now, these symptoms can actually stack up to cause illness such as heart, disease, cancer, and diabetes. Chronic insomnia doesn’t only affect the body but also the mind. Andrea Risi, a licensed counselor in Denver said that a lack of sleep can cause depression symptoms, irritability, poor concentration, anxiety and most commonly, mental exhaustion.
After a very long 40-year study at the University of Arizona, many researchers have concluded that people who suffer from chronic insomnia have a 58% increased risk of early death. Those who are victims of continuous insomnia are just more likely to die of heart or lung issues. We thought all of this was scary enough but there’s more. A study done by A M Williamson and Anne-Marie Feyer suggests that a person’s performance without 17-19 hours is the same as the performance of a drunk person.
Luckily, insomnia has rarely been the direct cause of death. A rare, actually very rare genetic disease called fatal familial insomnia (FFI) can be the cause of dementia, coma and well, death. This disorder affects about only 1 in 1,000,000 million people per year.
Watch this video to Know Top 10 things Insomnia does to your body…
FFI is caused by a gene mutation of the PRNP gene which produces a prion protein, or PrP. The function of this protein is not completely understood but when it’s shape is misfolded or distorted, it becomes toxic to the body. In the case of FFI, this misfolded PrP is found in the thalamus; a part of the brain which regulated many functions such as sleep, appetite and body temperature. The build-up of misfolded PrP leads to a gradual deterioration of neurons. It makes the brain tissue look almost like a sponge due to the holes it creates. After the onset of FFI’s symptoms, the average life span lowers to 18 months.
Although research is going on, there is no definite cure for this disease as of yet. There have been some cases where immunotherapy has been successful. As medicine progresses and develops, even more, treatments similar to immunotherapy may offer hope to those who suffer from FFI.
If the lack of sleep is disrupting your normal lifestyle, contacting a doctor as soon as possible is the best way to get back your lost peace.