Insomnia That Kills
Almost everyone has had at least one night where its been impossible to fall asleep. But Sonia Vallabh dreads those nights more than most. For her, insomnia is more than an inconvenienceits the first sign of the deadly disease that she and her husband, Eric Minikel, have dedicated their lives to studying.
Called fatal familial insomnia, or FFI, its an extremely rare genetic disease that causes progressively worsening sleeplessness. Difficulty sleeping soon turns into total insomnia, causing rapid physical and mental deterioration and, inevitably, deathwithin a year, usually sooner.
Its an unbelievably swift and brutal way to die, said Vallabh said.
Four years ago, she watched helplessly as her mother hovered in a twilight statestuck somewhere between wakefulness and sleepbefore dying at age 52.
She was just lucid enough to know something horrible was happening to her, Vallabh said. At the time, neither Vallabh nor the doctorswho were unable to come up with a diagnosisknew much more.
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http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/insomnia-that-kills/384841/