2 siblings have inherited a disease that will stop them from ever sleeping again
A brother and a sister have inherited a disease that will stop them from ever sleeping again — and that will eventually kill them.
Lachlan and Hayley Webb from Queensland, Australia, suffer from a rare hereditary disease called fatal familial insomnia. They do not know when it will strike.
There is no known treatment or cure for the illness, which affects less than 10 million people worldwide.
It prevents sufferers from achieving deep sleep, leading to speedy mental and physical deterioration.
Lachlan, 28, and Hayley, 30, first became aware of the genetic disorder when their grandmother became ill when they were teenagers, Nine News reports.
Their mother died from FFI at 61, while their aunt died at 42. The siblings' uncle, their mother's brother, also died from FFI at only 20.
FFI damages nerve cells, which leads to sponge-like holes in the part of the brain that regulates sleep, the thalamus.
This prevents the body from rejuvenating and makes it feel as if the sufferer is awake for the past six months of his or her life.
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Nothing worse than knowing your fate, and watching it happen in your family. Sounds like Alzheimer's on acid.
I've never heard of this illness. How so very sad for them and their family.
How horrible for them!
I can easily see how this leads to death!
Sounds like a form of the Mad Cow prion.