Table of contents:
- Fatal familial insomnia, the cause of insomnia runs in families
- What caused it?
- Why did it result in death?
- What are the symptoms of FFI disease?
- How is this disease diagnosed?
- How is this disease treated?
You may think that the cause of your insomnia that has been experiencing stems from work stress or from drinking too much coffee during the day. But if you still find it difficult to fall asleep even though you have improved your lifestyle and sleep patterns, you may have a descent from insomnia. In the medical world, the condition of decreased insomnia is called fatal familial insomnia. This type of sleep disorder is very risky and can cause death. Oops!
Fatal familial insomnia, the cause of insomnia runs in families
A person is said to be insomnia when he finds it difficult to start sleeping at night and / or stays asleep throughout the night. These sleep disorders can come and go and also vary in how long an episode lasts and how often the problem occurs. Acute insomnia can last from one night to several weeks, while chronic insomnia recurs at least three nights within a week and lasts for a month or more.
Insomnia causes you not to get the quality sleep you need to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and energized.
As the name implies, fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a genetic nighttime sleep disorder, aka passed down from generation to generation in the family tree.
What caused it?
Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a prion disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain. Several other diseases that belong to the prion disease group are Kuru and Mad Cow disease, aka Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease disease.
FFI is considered to be one of the rarest prion diseases. Only 40 families diagnosed with this disease in the world. Typically, FFI is inherited from previous family members who have a history of prion disease. If one or both parents have a mutation in the gene that triggers FFI, then the child has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the same condition.
As far as scientists can observe, the cause of insomnia runs in the family is most likely a mutation in the PRNP gene (prion protein) that causes damage to the thalamus in the brain. The thalamus is responsible for all kinds of things, including sleep patterns, body temperature, and emotional expression. Damage to the thalamus from prion infection occurs gradually, causing the thalamus to lose its nerve cells.
Why did it result in death?
Reporting from the Health Line, FFI can cause death from one to two years after experiencing symptoms. However, the timeline varies from person to person depending on the condition of the body and the severity of symptoms experienced.
As explained above, damage to the thalamus will interfere with the work of the brain. That is why the symptoms of prion disease can be very diverse, ranging from heavy sweating, tremors, difficulty speaking, constipation, to impotence and dementia. However, the main symptom is lack of sleep, aka insomnia.
People with FFI are unable to enter a deep sleep stage called slow wave sleep, which helps restore your brain by flushing out toxins and cerebral-spinal fluid. The buildup of toxic fluids gradually causes further brain damage.
FFI sufferers are always trapped in a condition where they don't fully sleep or wake up. For people with FFI, no matter how hard you try to get a good night's sleep, that's just not going to happen. Chronic sleep deprivation will progress to extreme fatigue, dementia and, ultimately, death.
What are the symptoms of FFI disease?
This disease tends to occur in people aged 32-62 years, very rarely in people younger or older than that age range.
The fatal symptoms of familial insomnia in each person are different and are divided into two, namely early stage symptoms and advanced stage symptoms.
The fatal symptoms of early stage familial insomnia include:
- It's hard to sleep.
- It's hard to fall asleep all night, always waking up.
- Frequent twitching or experiencing muscle spasms.
- Often experience stiff muscles.
- Often moves restlessly during sleep, such as kicking or hitting (Can not sleep well).
- Loss of appetite.
- Often forgetting or having difficulty remembering things (symptoms of dementia).
Meanwhile, the fatal symptoms of advanced familial insomnia include:
- Not able to sleep.
- Cognitive and mental function deteriorates.
- Loss of coordination or ataxia (unable to control body movements).
- Excessive sweating.
- Blood pressure and heart rate increase.
- Weight loss due to reduced appetite.
- Difficulty speaking, even difficulty swallowing.
- Fever.
How is this disease diagnosed?
FFI is a rare hereditary disease. If no one in your family has that history, then you shouldn't have to worry.
However, if you experience the symptoms above, especially prolonged difficulty sleeping, you should immediately consult a doctor. After asking about your personal and family medical history and performing a basic physical exam, your doctor will recommend that you undergo a PET scan to scan your brain function.
Advanced genetic tests can also help doctors make a diagnosis, because there are many diseases that can cause long-term insomnia, such as sleep apnea.
How is this disease treated?
There is no cure for this disease. However, effective treatments can help manage and reduce symptoms. For example, by prescribing sedatives or sleeping pills for a while to sleep better.
In addition, prescribing the antibiotic doxycycline can be used as a preventive measure to prevent FFI from occurring in people who are at high risk of prion infection or who have family members with the PRNP gene mutation.
The most important thing is to always adopt a healthy lifestyle, such as exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, managing stress well, and getting enough sleep as possible. Don't forget to always check your health regularly so you can detect the risk of disease and treat it before it gets worse.
