3 ms·
Brothers Become Paralysed When the Sun Sets Each Day (2016)
- imposterr 5y agoI wonder if they've done anything to rule out psychosomatic causes. Pure conjecture here, but I wonder if it's something tied to their circadian rhythm and melatonin production (a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles). In the normal case, the body creates melatonin naturally and its tied to light and circadian rhythm. I can imagine a case where their genetics are such that instead of a slowly ramping production that normally happens, they get a sudden spike? This would also explain why their timings change as daylight hours do as our body's sleep-wake cycles are affected by daylight hours. Again, pure conjecture, but an interesting case nonetheless.
- stubish 5y agoIt's paralysis, not sleep. Yes, my initial thought is it would be one of those not-so-uncommon psychosomatic things. And the interesting thing is it is only affecting two, where normally it seems to be larger numbers to keep the syndrome live.
- nicholastsmith 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_myasthenic_syndrome#People https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_myasthenic_syndrome...
- bellyfullofbac 5y agoThis article from May 2016 (so 6 months before the Science Alert article) says they've responded to treatment: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/international/pakistan/solar-kids-turn-to-normal-life-after-successful-treatment https://www.khaleejtimes.com/international/pakistan/solar-ki... I wonder what would've happened if they changed timezones, or got taken to a place with 24 hour sun...