Could You Die From a Lack of Sleep? (A Living Nightmare)
As kids we were always told to get a good 7-8 hours of sleep a night. On average, I get about five. I’m up late writing and posting links, and up early to do more of the same before heading to work to do more of the same. My alarm’s even set on the weekends.
I know it’s bad but I had no idea this schedule could kill me.
Yesterday I was perusing the Web when I came across a post on EgyptSaidSo called “Sleep Deprivation Can Be Fatal.” As someone that rarely gets a full night of shut-eye the headline immediately caught my attention.
The post highlighted an article on ABC News about a condition called fatal familial insomnia (FFI), which is a rare disorder where a person cannot fall asleep—ever. The lack of sleep leads to “exhaustion, dementia and ultimately death. There is no cure.”
Earlier this week, National Geographic aired Explorer: Fatal Insomnia, a documentary on FFI that included an Italian man named Silvano who suffered from this condition. He was 53 when he suddenly could no longer fall asleep. Eventually he checked into a sleep clinic and after four months of sleeplessness, he slipped into a coma and died in 1984.
It sounds like a scene from the new Nightmare on Elm Street, but this is 100-percent real.
According to ABC News, FFI is a genetic mutation that is hereditary and only 40 families are known to have this disease in the world.
While the chances of having FFI are low, there are still a lot of people—myself included—that don’t get enough sleep and that could lead to various problems. According to Dr. Michael Cramer Bornemann, “An individual who has sleep deprived themselves for just one single night is as impaired as somebody who is legally intoxicated.”
"Sleep is the most extraordinary mystery, the most elusive biological function that we have," added Daniel Max, author of The Family That Couldn't Sleep, who has chronicled Silvano's story and family lineage. "We know very little about how we sleep. But we know even less about why we sleep."
ABC News correspondent Eric Horng used himself as a guinea pig to see the effects of sleep deprivation. He stayed awake for 40 hours straight and then went to a sleep center to test his cognitive skills. Needless to say his brain was mush and he did poorly on the memory test, but showed a vast improvement after a full night’s rest.
Watch below…
When I came across this article yesterday I tweeted it out with the following message: “Damn, I guess we're all gonna die #GoodNight.”
Not to get all morbid, but I know I’m not the only one that doesn’t get enough sleep. In the midst of a recession, everyone is juggling different hustles trying to make ends meet. I constantly find myself saying that there aren’t enough hours in the day to do what I need to do and want to do. Usually my sleep gets the short end of the stick.
Apparently I’m not alone.
There are loads of people that don’t get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep a night and use coffee and energy drinks to stay up longer/later. I’m not sure how it is in other countries but America is a fast-paced nation where people are constantly on the move and we live by the motto” “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
Well, according to Dr. Bornemann, some of us might get our wish. "At some point, the body is going to take sleep and it will do so if given the opportunity," he said. "And if you don't give it the opportunity, it will take it at times for which you're working or for which you're awake."
When was the last time you got a full night’s sleep? How much sleep do you get on an average night? Do you feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything? Are you guilty of taking coffee or energy drinks to stay awake? Did you imagine think that a lack of sleep could be fatal? Have you ever had insomnia? Could you imagine not being able to sleep—ever? Would that be a living nightmare for you? Has reading this made you want to change your sleeping habits?
Speak your piece…
Goodnight!
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