2-Minute Neuroscience: Fatal Insomnia

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Fatal insomnia is a very rare neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressively worsening insomnia and eventual death. In this video, I explain the symptoms of fatal insomnia as well as what happens in the brain during the disease.

TRANSCRIPT:

Fatal insomnia is a very rare terminal condition characterized by difficulty sleeping that becomes progressively worse over time. Although the disease is typically genetic in origin, some sporadic cases without a clear genetic basis have also been documented. The condition usually begins in middle age or later, and early symptoms include trouble sleeping as well as autonomic nervous system disturbances, such as increased body temperature and increased heart rate.

The disease gets worse over time as the amount of sleep patients get continues to decline. Patients will sometimes lapse into a state of unresponsiveness during which they make involuntary movements that seem to be related to acting out dreams, and they can develop a variety of additional symptoms including difficulties with balance and coordination, trouble speaking and swallowing, hallucinations, and personality changes. Eventually, most patients lose the ability to enter deep sleep at all, and fall into a stupor that it is difficult to rouse them from. This stupor sometimes leads to coma, and the disease is always fatal, with death occurring in just over 18 months on average.

Fatal insomnia is a prion disease, meaning it is associated with the conversion of a protein called prion protein into a form that cannot be broken down. The new pathological form of prion protein accumulates in the brain, and its accumulation is associated with the death of neurons and other pathological changes such as the brain taking on a spongy texture. The neuronal death eventually becomes insurmountable and is linked to the death of the patient. In fatal insomnia, the most severe neuronal loss often occurs in the thalamus and inferior olivary nuclei, but pathological changes are sometimes seen through other areas of the brain such as the cerebral cortex. Damage to the sleep-promoting regions of the thalamus is thought to be especially important to causing the insomnia that occurs in the disease.

REFERENCES:

Cracco L, Appleby BS, Gambetti P. Fatal familial insomnia and sporadic fatal insomnia. Handb Clin Neurol. 2018;153:271-299. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-63945-5.00015-5. PMID: 29887141.

Montagna P. Fatal familial insomnia and the role of the thalamus in sleep regulation. Handb Clin Neurol. 2011;99:981-96. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-52007-4.00018-7. PMID: 21056239.

Montagna P, Gambetti P, Cortelli P, Lugaresi E. Familial and sporadic fatal insomnia. Lancet Neurol. 2003 Mar;2(3):167-76. doi: 10.1016/s1474-4422(03)00323-5. PMID: 12849238.
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My future step-daughter passed away 8 yrs ago at the age of 35 . She was misdiagnosed several times. Autopsy diagnosis was Sporadic Fatal Insomnia. It was difficult watching this beautiful, intelligent, strong woman radically change and to eventually realize she wasn't going to survive. Knowing would not have changed the outcome but the way things were done, what she went through would have been drastically different had we known what she had instead of being misdiagnosed several times and being lead to believe different than what actually was happening to her. My heart goes out to anyone who has this. I pray that a cure for this or a way to stop this is found. To those of you wondering if you have SFI because you have insomnia issues....that is only 1 of the symptoms of this disease. It is a prevalent one but there are others. If insomnia is your only issue is isn't likely you have this. If you are truly concerned, see your healthcare provider, tell them your symptoms and your concerns. While this is a good video it doesn't cover this disease in-depth enough to self-diagnose.

patiencepopovich
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Me every time I can't fall asleep in 10 minutes:

maestro
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Now I have one more thing to worry about that will keep me awake. Thanks a

whodidit
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He’s back when we needed him the most!

Josh_Morales
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People shud be made more aware of condition like this
Ty👍🏻👍🏻

shivanishinde
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Carrying me through my neuro classes rn. GOAT

suhailsandhu
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Prions are fascinating but profoundly frightening, as they are almost indestructible. I have heard of this disease under the name “fatal familial insomnia”.

Great video as always, informative and entertaining! I hope some progress can be made towards finding a solution to this soon

aamirrazak
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Prions are so interesting, can you make more videos on them?

machu
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I am so sorry, please stay hopeful and fight.

JokicTheGoat
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oh man, 😭 i remember reading a haikyuu fanfic where one of the characters had this and had totally forgotten about it till now
on a side note, thanks for your vids ❤❤ they are great for revision before exams and have helped me so many times

FatFish
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I have this. Im hanging strong. CBD and THC and meditation with my diet is keeping me functioning. I found out 13 months ago by that point I was so fatigued it was an effort to speak I was so exhausted. But I made a choice. It helps I may live longer than expected but I have my bad days.

jimmyjoegarcia
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my sister had Sporadic Insomnia in 2022 she went 3 month with no sleep miss her alot... and she never ever flet sleepy at all

patkzy
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Hearing about this, especially the fact that it’s genetic, makes like seem so unfair

Gangster_God
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Wow...this sounds like it really sucks.

bhoovis
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These videos are quite informative l see!
But can you please include in your videos the reasons that lead to these diseases and the drug/medicine that cures it (if available) from next time onwards ?
I will be looking forward to know the reason or habit that leads to such diseases.
Thank you... 😨I'm left scared

shiksha_rathore
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Started to panick if I have this. Sleeping has been iffy for a while and last night I woke up everytime I entered REM. As soon as I started to dream I wake up. Fell asleep 3 times last night just to wake up after an hour

snas
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I feel like I may have this. For the past year I've gotten maybe 5 hours sleep at night now I get like 3 hours of sleep a night If I'm lucky even taking a handful of sleeping pills

jamessnapp
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There is nothing more interesting than neurobiology

udznpwg
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Hey I’m scared I might have SFI because last year near the end of august I did lsd for the first time and my anxiety and depression got worse as well as my sleep I don’t get tired or sleepy like I used to when I do sleep it’s like 3-4 hours sometimes 6 hours or 2 my memory is bad kinda and I feel like I’m having cognitive or mental decline feels like I sometimes have dementia. Sleep is the main problem and the intense anxiety and depression and feeling like I have cognitive/mental decline as well as feeling like I have dementia. Should I be worried about SFI??? And even if I’m not anxious or depressed I still sometimes can’t sleep

CaptainAmericaStarSpangledMan
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Damn. I know i most likely don't have this, especially since i have a lot of potential differential diagnosis like ADHD, autism, anxiety, ptsd, depression, poor lifestyle, etc... (on the flipsiide i have similar symptoms to all the symptoms of this) and i've had worsening insomnia my whole life, but lately it's been really bad as i've reached my late 20s making me wonder if i don't have preexisting insomnia from others causes AND this. Is that a thing?

My cognitive functions are seriously degrading over the last years and for a couple months i've been going from 2~4 hours (until recently my average was more like 4~8h) most nights to 1~2 hours every 2~3 nights. I do have a lot of microsleeps and somnolent rest, which sounds like it might not be the case for this condition? For example falling asleeping while standing up, or waking up after a brief sleep, and just sitting up, only to feel groggy an hour late in the same sleeping position... or seemingly falling mostly asleep in the restroom for hours.

But it makes me wonder if i'm just half asleep and feel like i'm sleeping when i'm just somewhat unconscious for extended periods of drowsiness. Is there any way this could be it? Considering there is no known such cases in either of my families to my knowledge. Considering i take various stimulants in light ammount, i wonder if someone with this being given stimulants (coffee or drugs) would basically be completely unable to sleep even in the early onstage. And i've had one time recently where i was in one of those somnolent state and completely unresponsive to people banging on my front door, ringing the bell, etc... for an hour or so until i snapped out of it.

I believe i've had some recent EEG and maybe another brain test (MRI maybe?) but i'm not sure about that, probably not. Nothing abnormal in the tests i've had. The scary part is, it apparently doesn't show up on an EEG for healthy carriers, but that didn't tell me if it's the case for those with active FFI.

To be fair, i don't have any trouble falling asleep (but i have a LOT of trouble STAYING asleep), it's lying down in bed in the first place that is by far my biggest struggle. I do have the urge to sleep most days otherwise. I've had slight issues with memory but nothing major in terms of cognitive decline outside of serious focus and somnolence problems. And part of the focus problems are long time ongoing issues from ADHD.

That's most of the relevant informations i can think of. I know it's not a good idea to seek answers online but if this somehow doesn't match the profile at all of this disease i'd really appreciate someone with some knowledge on the topic confirming so, if they happen to read this, i don't need to add this to my endless list of anxieties. But if there's a chance it could match, i'd prefer honesty.

Dice-Z