Talk:Fatal familial insomnia
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Sorry if this sounds stupid, but couldn’t a person help to cure fatal familial insomnia by getting nightly injections of a sedative?- EKN
- I understand that these drugs have no effect as the mechanism in the brain that they act on is what is malfunctioning. I'll see if I can find some more and add it to the article... Dan100 (Talk) 20:43, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks Dan. This is very peculiar. So there is no way of "putting them to sleep"?- EKN 19 March 2006
What about inducing a coma? - moon octopus
I'm wondering about that too. EKN 14:26, 5 April 2006 (UTC)EKN
- As far as I've been able to tell, inducing a coma wouldn't have any effect at all on the health of the patient, because the disease would continue to advance regardless of their state of consciousness. Sedatives wouldn't work, either, because the patient is not in a state of full consciousness once the disease sets in, anyway, and the action of the prions on the brain matter produces much, much more action on the vital parts of the brain than any sedative could hope to do by shifting dopamine or serotonin or melatonin around. The thing is, the sufferers of this disease aren't simply casual insomniacs; they can't sleep at all, so they slowly degenerate into a semi-conscious, disabled stupor, until they die after the prions destroy enough of their brains. The MSNBC piece on this really explains it well. The link is in the article. Avalyn 08:43, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
The phrase "death is inevitable" seems highly unencyclopedic to me--this is a tautology! Death is inevitable with or without this condition. Perhaps this should be rephrase to reflect the intended meaning. 128.237.245.71 12:05, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] just 28 families
The main article said "The gene responsible is carried in just 28 families worldwide". I moved this statement here so we could talk about it. At first glance, it sounds like an impossible claim to support, as no one has analyzed the genes for all families worldwide, nor is there any statement about how the families are counted. I suspect the statement is a misinterpretation of something much more nuanced from the medical literature, but I was unable to find the original. I would like to hear what other peopel think. --Zippy 05:58, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Agreed. Perhaps: "The gene responisble has been identified in only 28 families worldwide."
I just heard on NPR today that it has been documented in 40 families worldwide, and estimates based on genetics put the total number somewhere about 200. However, I am hesitant to put this in because I am not sure that 40 was an exact number ('though I believe it was). --Azsymkamen 19:40, 18 November 2006
An unfounded speculative remedy might be meditation which I'm told reduces ther meditator's need for sleep.
[edit] FFI association
The msnbc report (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6822468/) says that-"The Roiters’ extended family has formed an association to help find a cure, and raise the money for research."-is there any other information about this association as i can't find anything, anywhere.
--Frills 04:51, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
The official website is http://www.afiff.org/index.php?newlang=english It is also the only website involving the FATAL FAMILIAL INSOMNIA FAMILIES ASSOCIATION - PRION DISEASES, that I can find. I'll get back to you if I find anymore.
[edit] Prion section should be deleted or revised
"There are other diseases involving the mammalian prion."
- This sentence is nonsensical -- there is no such thing as "the mammalian prion." -- 201.51.236.252 11:59, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
"Some are transmissible (TSEs) such as kuru, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as "mad cow disease") in cows, and chronic wasting disease in American deer and American elk (in some areas of the Rocky Mountains). Some forms of congestive heart failure are also believed to be caused by variant prion, as well as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). These are generally not considered to be transmissible, except by direct contact with infected tissue, such as cannibalism, transfusion or transplantation."
- This is irrelevant to sleep deprivation and should be deleted. -- 201.51.236.252 11:59, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
