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Is there a disease that kills by preventing sleep?

Stuff You Should Know

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The Effects of Kinetic Mutism on the Brain

With fatal familial insomnia, like what you've just described is the result of any spongiform pre-on disease. So basically your central nervous system is starting to break down the anterior ventral and mediodorsal thalamic neurons. They start to die out and instead of being replaced with healthy ones, they don't. And that will deliver you to the end stage stage four. It's pretty rapid decline from there.

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