We all know what is insomnia and what are its symptoms. But have you ever heard the name of Fatal insomnia? Did you know that insomnia can be deadly too?
Insomnia can be deadly as well, there is a condition called Fatal insomnia which can lead the person towards death. There are two types of fatal insomnia, familial and sporadic.
Familial insomnia is inherited from the family. When cellular prion protein causes a special mutation in the genes, it results in fatal familial insomnia.
Sporadic fatal insomnia, on the other hand, occurs spontaneously and does not need a genetic mutation to affect the person.
Both these types of insomnia affect one part of the brain which is responsible for sleep, thalamus. Thus, they are different from other diseases which affect many parts of the body.
Symptoms of fatal familial insomnia start appearing when a person is in his late teens or in his early 70s. But when symptoms start appearing, death can happen in 7 to 36 months. Sporadic insomnia, on the other hand, develops later in life and does not cause death way early like fatal familial.
When symptoms begin of the familial type, it gets difficult for the person to fall or stay asleep. Muscles start to twitch and stiff, spasms occur quite often. If a person is sleeping he may start kicking or moving a lot on bed. Later they lose their sleep and cannot sleep at all.
Mental functions start to malfunction and bodily changes happen. Heart rate would get faster, blood pressure increases and excessive sweating occurs.
Consider watching this video to know more about how to beat insomnia….
Whereas, in the sporadic type when the symptoms begin, the mental state gets affected first and they start malfunctioning at a rapid speed. When people have sporadic insomnia they cannot tell if they have problems sleeping, but abnormalities can be examined through sleep studies and researches.
There are no treatments available for fatal insomnia yet. But there are treatments which relieve the symptoms of fatal insomnia to make the person feel a little better and at ease. There are even treatments to make the person sleep but they are only temporary and cannot be used for the long run.
Fatal insomnia is not common but a rare disorder. It starts slowly and gradually but gets worse with time. It can also cause dementia in patients, which is a mental disorder that deals with memory loss. It also causes trouble in speaking and coordinating. It can also cause extreme constipation and menopause in women.
It can be diagnosed through sleep studies, PET scans and genetic testing (in the case of fatal familial insomnia).
As it has no cure it is a progressive disease which causes hallucinations, confusion, delirium and in the end death. It is quite different from normal insomnia as it is deadly and has worse symptoms.
Some sleeping pills have been given to help the person sleep but it showed no signs of improvement, instead, it made the symptoms worse.
It also causes panic attacks, paranoia and increased number of phobias. For 4 months these symptoms stay visible until new symptoms start of hallucinations for 5 months.
The person becomes completely unable to sleep and loses extreme weight for 3 months. Then follows dementia, in which the person loses all the abilities to function or carry on conversations, he becomes unresponsive and then the final stage appears of death.
Did you ever know about fatal insomnia? It sounds like a really scary disease, doesn’t it? Leave your opinions about this disease in the comments below.
Until Next Time,
Team Doctor ASKY!