There is a genetic disease that causes " fatal familial insomnia ". If you catch it, you won't be able to sleep. It's a rare genetic disease present in only some 100 families around the globe. Although very rarely it can happen by spontaneous mutation.
Over the months, you will sleep less and less. Your body will forget how to get you to sleep because your hormones are out of whack. You will suffer from massive exhaustion. Eventually, you will start to hallucinate.
The median age of onset is 40 years to 60 years.
The first symptom most people experience is insomnia, or difficulty sleeping. This may come with confusion and trouble focusing. Insomnia worsens over time, and other symptoms may start to appear. These include:
- Hypertension and abnormally high heart rate
- Weight loss without any cause
- Body temperature is not managed
- Excessive sweating
- Double vision
As the disease progresses further, other fatal familial insomnia symptoms include:
- Ataxia, difficulty in balancing
- Hallucination and Delirium
- Dysphagia
Many of the symptoms that happen after insomnia begins are caused by a lack of sleep.
Most people with FFI die within 6 months to 36 months of the onset of symptoms.
About the disease
Fatal familial insomnia is a prion disease of the brain. It is due to mutation to gene encoding protein PrPc.It is autosomal dominant.
Your thalamus (part of the brain) is linked with sleep and alertness. The genetic defect causes the production of defective protein which gets accumulated in thalamus, hence affecting the functioning of the thalamus
Diagnosis -
It is done by sleep study and PET scan as well as genetic testing.