3 ms·
Could this be an explanation for why people who go without sleep for long enough eventually just die? The Guinness Book of World Records doesn't accept records
by Symmetry 1y ago
Could this be an explanation for why people who go without sleep for long enough eventually just die? The Guinness Book of World Records doesn't accept records on staying awake for the same reason they don't accept records for the longest game of Russian Roulette.
- nialse 1y agoWhile it is true that Guiness stopped keeping track of records of staying awake for health reasons, people with severe sleep deprivation ends up being psychotic and admitted to psychiatric care and administered sleep inducing drugs. So, lack of sleep is not something you die from short term. Long term (years, decades) short sleep is associated with higher all cause mortality risk though.
- type0 1y agothere's this prion disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_insomnia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_insomnia
- downrightmike 1y agoAnd there is the hereditary version: fatal familial insomnia [FFI]) stemming from a mutation in the PRNP gene.
- nialse 1y agoYes, it does seem to cause one death per year worldwide and is a long onset disorder with psychiatric symptoms. One need not be afraid of not sleeping in general though. (Being worried about lack of sleep is one of the common causes of lack of sleep.)
- Symmetry 1y agoI'm getting this from the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. There were some other exaggerations in the book that people have noted, though, so maybe I was too trusting of this particular fact.