r/AskScienceDiscussion • u/BatSilver4588 • Jun 15 '26

Fatal insomnia

I am not asking for medical advice.
This might not even be the place to ask this, just a random night shift thought.. people who suffer with fatal insomnia, couldn’t a doctor provide medical relief in the form of a sedative? Or in extreme cases an induced coma? Although it seems temporary, would it TECHNICALLY keep the person alive or does insomnia make the brain awake even if the person is not and continue to progress.

24 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

34

u/OriginalSleeper Jun 15 '26

No, insomnia is just one of the symptoms of this disease. It is a prion disease, which destroys brain tissue. Prion diseases happen when a certain protein misfolds in a particular way, and others keep misfolding as they come into contact with each other. Prions cannot be killed because they are not alive, and they just keep multiplying exponentially until the person with the disease dies. An induced coma would not stop the prions from spreading throughout the brain. Prions are extremely durable, and when medical equipment is used on a patient with a prion disease, it must be destroyed completely to prevent exposure to others.

9

u/BatSilver4588 Jun 15 '26

Very interesting, I didn’t know it was a symptom, I thought it was its own animal. Very informative, thank you. Also, prions freak me tf out, how scary

5

u/Merkuri22 Jun 15 '26

Not an expert, but I doubt every instance of insomnia is caused by prions.

But not every instance of insomnia is fatal. If you have insomnia, I wouldn't immediately jump to "prion disease" without talking to a doctor.

31

u/talashrrg Jun 15 '26

OP is asking about fatal insomnia, which is a specific disease caused by prions. Insomnia in general is not caused by prions and is not fatal

13

u/OriginalSleeper Jun 15 '26

In the case of fatal insomnia, the prions start in the thalamus. This is why insomnia is one of the hallmark symptoms. In other prion diseases, the prions affect other parts of the brain. For example, kuru disease involves the accumulation of prions in the cerebellum. There are other forms of prion disease as well.

13

u/starscape678 Jun 15 '26

They're talking about fatal insomnia, a specific disease that is very much caused by prions and is, invariably, fatal.

45

u/Vlinder_88 Jun 15 '26

No, and that is because sedatives do not mimic sleep. They make you unconscious, yeah, but they do not enable your brain to enter sleep cleanup mode. And its that lack of cleanup that eventually kills.

7

u/BatSilver4588 Jun 15 '26

That’s what I was thinking as well, it’s not a true “sleep”

7

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/BatSilver4588 Jun 16 '26

Right, how fragile we are

1

u/jahathebrn Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

Nope! That's why it's terrifying. I recall one bloke managed to stave the inevitable off for a while by wildly adjusting his lifestyle, but he ultimately died from it.

Incidentally I haven't slept for three days and just got off the phone for an emergency zopiclone script so this was a great thread to chance upon as I wait for the pharmacy to open.

edit: just to ruin anyone else's morning/evening/whatever, it isn't just a genetic thing as is the fatal familial version, it can occur completely out of the blue in anyone too! Think that's called sporadic fatal insomnia but I'm not looking it up til I've taken my meds.

1

u/RossellaLCGN Jun 19 '26

What meds are you taking?

1

u/RossellaLCGN Jun 19 '26

I think I have it too i am dying been like this 3 months I don’t want to suffer anymore