Strange Sleep Disorders
Strange Sleeping Disorders
In 2007, roughly 64 million Americans suffered from insomnia on a regular basis, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Not everyone is so lucky. In 2005, sleep disorders caused 684 deaths in the U.S., according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control's Compressed Mortality Data. In many cases, how and why sleep disorders kill people is largely a medical mystery.
Sources: U.S. Center for Disease Control, World Health Organization, Merck Manual of Medical Information, news reports.
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African Sleeping Sickness
Unlike most sleeping disorders, African Sleeping Sickness is contagious. The disease, which has several regional strains in Africa, is carried by tsetse flies living in woodland thickets of savanna and dense vegetation along streams, according to CDC reports. Symptoms start to appear a few weeks after infection. Skin lesions, swollen lymph nodes and skin rashes are the early symptoms. As the disease progresses, the circadian rhythms are reversed. Victims stop sleeping at night and can't stay awake during the day. If left untreated, they lapse into a coma and die. The whole process plays out in weeks or at most a few months. Roughly 25,000 cases of African Sleeping Sickness are reported every year, according to the World Health Organization.
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Parasomnia--REM Disorder
After years of sleeping in the same bed with his wife Elaine, Derek Barfoot, a 75-year-old resident of Gosport, England, started assaulting his wife Elaine in the middle of the night a few months ago. The story received substantial attention from in British newspapers. She has endured seemingly arbitrary blows to the face and back and nearly had her arm broken in one instance. Barfoot suffers from a peculiar strain of parasomnia, a sleeping disorder that includes a number of disruptive sleep events like nightmares and sleepwalking known as rapid eye movement behavior disorder, which causes those it affects to act out violent dreams in real life, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information.
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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, refers to the mysterious phenomenon of seemingly healthy babies dying for no apparent reason. Modern medicine has investigated nearly every dimension of SIDS only to find more questions than answers. The direct cause of SIDS remains a mystery, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information, though it remains the leading cause of death for infants between two weeks and one year old. Nevertheless, there appears to be a strong correlation between sleep environment and SIDS deaths. The most important rule is that babies should always sleep on their back on firm mattresses, according to the Merck Manual. Between 1983 and 1992, more than 5,000 babies died each year due to SIDS in the U.S. By 1999, this number had dropped to 2,648, according to the National Center for Child Death Review Policy and Practice.
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Sexsomnia--Sleep Sex
A similar sleepwalking defense has emerged in sexual assault cases. In 2003, Canadian researchers coined "sexsomnia" in a paper called "Sexsomnia--A New Parasomnia?" published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry as the name of a rare form of automatism in which people carry out sexual acts in their sleep. The researchers cited the case of an Australian woman who would walk out of her house while asleep and repeatedly have sex with strangers as an example of the condition. In the past three years, courts in Canada and England have acquitted defendants accused of rape who allegedly suffered from "sexsomnia," according to news reports.
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Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. At various times throughout the day, people with narcolepsy experience fleeting urges to sleep. If the urge becomes overwhelming, patients fall asleep for periods lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. In rare cases, some people may remain asleep for an hour or longer. People may involuntarily fall asleep while at work or at school, when having a conversation, playing a game, eating a meal, or, most dangerously, when driving an automobile or operating other types of potentially hazardous machinery. In addition to daytime sleepiness, three other major symptoms frequently characterize narcolepsy: cataplexy, or the sudden loss of voluntary muscle tone; vivid hallucinations during sleep onset or upon awakening; and brief episodes of total paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep.
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Fatal Familial Insomnia
Fatal Familial Insomnia is a rare genetic sleep disorder that affects fewer than 50 families around the world, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information. In multiple case studies, including one by Ann Akroush in Case Studies in Virtual Genetics, the disease progresses like this: A healthy person in his mid-50s has trouble sleeping one otherwise normal night; the next night is worse, and the night after that is worse still. A rare gene they inherited from their ancestors tricks their brain into thinking the body is always awake. They can close their eyes or lie down to rest, but they will literally never "sleep" again. Hallucinations and paranoia begin to take hold and eventually deteriorate into a state of dementia, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information. Soon, they slip into a coma-like fog and, mercifully, die. The whole process can take as little as seven months or as long as three years. There is no known cure.
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Homicidal Somnambulism
In May 1987, a 23-year-old man named Kenneth Parks stumbled into a police station in blood-spattered clothes near Toronto muttering: "I think I have killed some people with my bare hands," according to a case study by Canadian sleep expert Roger Broughton. Parks was right. Hours earlier, he had bludgeoned his mother-in-law and father-in-law with a tire iron and then stabbed them with a butcher's knife after breaking into their house in suburban Toronto. The father-in-law survived but not the mother-in-law.
When his murder trial began, Parks admitted to killing his parents-in-law but said he wouldn't have done so if he had been awake at the time. Parks was the first defendant to claim he shouldn't be held responsible for actions committed while sleepwalking because he couldn't willfully control those actions. In 1988, a Canadian jury agreed with him, acquitting him of the murder and manslaughter charges.
In the years since, dozens of defendants have argued with mixed success that they are innocent of murder on grounds of "homicidal sleepwalking," according to sleep specialist Mark Pressman's 2006 study, "Disorders of Arousal From Sleep and Violent Behavior."
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Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome
In the past three decades, more than a hundred Southeast Asian immigrants, primarily ethnic Hmong from Laos, have died in the U.S. from a mysterious disorder known as Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome, according to reports by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC). The victims were mostly men in their thirties who died in their sleep for no apparent reason. The syndrome remains a medical mystery. Shelley Adler, a professor of integrative medicine at the University of San Francisco, California School of Medicine speculates the cataclysmic psychological stress caused by war, migration and rapid acculturation created such wrenching nightmares among Hmong refugees that they died.
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Hypersomnia
Some people have trouble falling asleep and other people have trouble waking up. The latter condition is called hypersomnia, and it may keep a person pinned to the bed for well over 12 hours, even with frequent daytime naps, according to the Merck Manual of Medical Information. Symptoms, which may last for days to weeks, include excessive food intake, irritability, disorientation, lack of energy and hypersensitivity to noise.
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Samurai Maiku 01:05:01 AM Feb 23 2009
Im a germaphobe, but some of this is just too much. If a berry falls in the sink im going to eat it. They grow outside, and were probably picked by someone who could care less about being sterile.
Kfrkuhne 03:29:27 PM Jan 31 2009
To the poster whose boyfriend acts out his dreams, this is a very dangerous condition called REM Behavior Disorder. It's very dangerous and people have been seriously injured while sleeping next to a sufferer. In at least one case I can remember, a man actually used this disorder as a successful defense in court when his wife was killed (whether it was an actual case of the disorder or just a sneaky defense, I don't know). The point is that this is very dangerous to you as well as to him (nothing to keep him from dreaming he's jumping out the window or into traffic) and needs to be addressed immediately. Insurance is difficult to come by these days, but most decent-sized communities have at least one free clinic which can help hook you up with the specialists he needs. It's readily treatable with anticonvulsant drugs, so hang in there and don't be afraid to ask for the help you need.
Camobabe61 12:01:58 AM Jan 30 2009
MY BOYFRIEND OF 8 YEARS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS WOKE ME UP ,ONE TIME SITTING ON TOP OF ME PUNCHING ME IN THE FACE .I HAVE FELT HIS RESTLESSNESS JUST IN TIME TO MISS A RIGHT HOOK . THE LAST TIME WAS JUST 2 WEEKS AGO HE JUMPED UP ON HIS KNEES AND I COVERED MY FACE YELLING HEY HEY HEY AS I PEEKED OUT IN SEMIDARKNESS THROUGH MY FINGERS I COULD SEE HIS OUTRAGEED LOOK AND HIS FIST BALDED TIGHT ABOUT TO PUNCH ME OUT BUT GOOD. ON THE THIRD "HEY" HE WOKE UP. HE SAID OH MY GOD BABY I AM SO SORRY I FEEL SO BAD. AS HE ALWAYS DOES. HE IS SOUND ASLEEP WHEN THIS HAPPENS.IT S ALWAYS A DREAM .HES DREAMING OF FIGHTING OR HUNTING AND HOGS ARE ON HIM OR HIS DOG ONE TIME HE SAID HE WAS DREAMING SOMEONE WAS TRYING TO STEAL HIS GOLD NECKLACE. WE DON T HAVE INSURANCE TO GO TO A DOCTOR HE HAS HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND THATS ALREADY EXPENSIVE TO BUY EVERY MONTH .SOME NIGHTS ITS REALLY HARD FOR ME TO GET TO SLEEP HE S A BIG GUY ABOUT 280 , 5'10 OR SO ME I M 5'5 140LBS. IS THERE ANY HELP I CAN GET FOR HIM ANYWHERE
Irenka41 01:31:16 PM Jan 25 2009
It is very laughable, but actually serious matter- safety and decision making at stakes.With nationally increase of overweight- came increase in sleeping apnea for the most and with that - became "marry-go-around", medical problems. Sleeping studies very important and does affect everyone who ever drive, or use transportation of any sort,and many other area as well- National safety regulate Truck drivers - who is often push by companies to drive as long as they possibly can - which deprive at sleep ,they fall a sleep at the wheel, causing horrible accidents.The same go with study of fatigue and there you got your labor law, regulating your breaks and maximum hours of work,not that with our economy now , we have to worry about overtime.Sleep studies also include in all kind of training which goes to many other areas as military training to decision making profession, to many other safety concern , which most never even think about on a day to day basic.As for my self - lol I'm insomnia
DSgr265 01:27:37 PM Jan 25 2009
I had a job that every day I started feeling so fatigue I couldnt keep my eyes open.I found out it had to do with my teeth. Even though I didnt feel pain I had a major infection in my mouth.even though I went to the dentist. I change dentist and he saw the infection. I guess he had more up to date equipment.
Sallyk1955 12:23:53 PM Jan 25 2009
I used to keep my back to my office door, facing my computer, with my hand on the mouse...making it look like I was studying the screen of my computer. I would go to sleep for about 5 minutes (soundly), then wake up with a start. Thinking OMG, I hope no one saw me asleep. But, it did help take the edge off of the overwhelming feeling to sleep. But, my brain wasn't as sharp, I had little patience, my work suffered, a lot! It broke my heart, big time, when I got canned!! I had great benefits, nice salary, a break on housing, respect, and did a lot for the company...Now, in my 40's, what do I do? Especially to get back what I had in everything. I lost everything, instead. (I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS WORKING, BUT I JUST WANTED TO PUT THE REST OF MY STORY UP, BECAUSE IT GOT CUT OFF) SORRY FOR THE DUPLICATES!But, now that I have the necessary meds, I feel 20 years younger!! Soooo much more energy. Unbelieveable!
Sallyk1955 12:21:43 PM Jan 25 2009
I used to keep my back to my office door, facing my computer, with my hand on the mouse...making it look like I was studying the screen of my computer. I would go to sleep for about 5 minutes (soundly), then wake up with a start. Thinking OMG, I hope no one saw me asleep. But, it did help take the edge off of the overwhelming feeling to sleep. But, my brain wasn't as sharp, I had little patience, my work suffered, a lot! It broke my heart, big time, when I got canned!! I had great benefits, nice salary, a break on housing, respect, and did a lot for the company...Now, in my 40's, what do I do? Especially to get back what I had in everything. I lost everything, instead.But, now that I have the necessary meds, I feel 20 years younger!! Soooo much more energy. Unbelieveable!
Sallyk1955 12:19:12 PM Jan 25 2009
I had narcolepsy/cataplexy for YEARS and didn't know it. I can remember back to high school when I first had symptons and wasn't diagnosed until in my late 40's. If I would have had a sleep diagnostic test sooner, God knows where I'd be today. Do you know who finally requested that I get a sleep test done? A young psychologist that I was seeing asked it she could bring in another professional to hear my stories of the really bad dreams, etc., and he said that I should get the test done. When my sleep doctor said I had Narcolepsy and mild sleep apnea, he also told me that I wasn't dreaming/nightmaring, I was hullicinating! I always related sleep tests to people in the movies. I thought of one for myself before, but then dismissed it as being silly.I had a great career going... but, I couldn't overcome the overwhelming desire to sleep. Usually around 2 in the afternoon, it would hit me like a ton of bricks. I used to keep my back to my office door, facing my computer, with my hand on th
Sallyk1955 12:17:58 PM Jan 25 2009
I had narcolepsy/cataplexy for YEARS and didn't know it. I can remember back to high school when I first had symptons and wasn't diagnosed until in my late 40's. If I would have had a sleep diagnostic test sooner, God knows where I'd be today. Do you know who finally requested that I get a sleep test done? A young psychologist that I was seeing asked it she could bring in another professional to hear my stories of the really bad dreams, etc., and he said that I should get the test done. When my sleep doctor said I had Narcolepsy and mild sleep apnea, he also told me that I wasn't dreaming/nightmaring, I was hullicinating! I always related sleep tests to people in the movies. I thought of one for myself before, but then dismissed it as being silly.I had a great career going... but, I couldn't overcome the overwhelming desire to sleep. Usually around 2 in the afternoon, it would hit me like a ton of bricks. I used to keep my back to my office door, facing my computer, with my hand on th
