Next to eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise, getting
adequate sleep is a staple cornerstone to a healthy life. But did you
know that sleeping can also be dangerous?There are actually a number of
things that can go wrong when you close your eyes and slip into
unconsciousness—and for some people, the danger is real enough that they
never wake up again. In fact, according to an ancient Greek proverb,
death and sleep are brothers . . . death being the perfect fulfillment
of sleep and sleep being the imperfect embodiment of death.Sleep has,
for the most part, always been seen as a “passive” activity that our
body performs on its own. But the truth is that our brain is actually
quite active while we slumber. It is also true that there are many
unanswered mysteries about sleep that modern scientists have yet to
unravel.[1]As it turns out, there are still some surprising (and
somewhat scary) things going on when our conscious brains turn off and
our bodies begin the sleeping state. And sometimes, the results can be
completely terrifying.
10 Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Sudden
cardiac arrest, also known as SCA, can occur when the sinoatrial node,
which is the node in the heart that is essentially your body’s natural
pacemaker, becomes impaired.In other words, this condition occurs when
the electrical systems of the heart malfunction. And in some cases, it
is deadly within the first few minutes.How does it kill? Well, it
basically reduces blood flow to the brain. And the scariest part? Not
only can it happen during sleep, but half of cases show no symptoms
before the cardiac arrest occurs.
9 Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon
monoxide, or CO, is a colorless, odorless gas that can be lethal if too
much of it is breathed into the lungs. It can be found in the fumes
that come from running cars, stoves, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges,
furnaces, and so on, and it can be almost impossible to detect unless a
carbon monoxide detector is in use.How does it kill? Basically, if
enough of it builds up in a small enough space, breathing it in can
become toxic. And if you inhale enough of it, just having it in your
lungs can be enough to “seal the deal” in a very final way. If awake,
the victim may experience symptoms like dizziness, weakness, a headache,
or an upset stomach.But what if it catches you while you’re asleep?
Well, people who are sleeping often experience no symptoms, and they can
die in their sleep before they even realize that it’s happening
8 Myocardial Infarction
A
myocardial infarction, more commonly known as a heart attack, can
happen during sleep, though thankfully, the odds are pretty good that
this specific type of cardiac event will wake its victim up before it
kills them.
Heart attacks happen when blood flow to part of the heart gets blocked. This blockage can destroy part of the heart muscle.
How
does it kill? If enough heart tissue gets damaged, the heart may not be
strong enough to pump any blood out to the rest of the body. This can
result in heart failure, which could be lethal if medical treatment
isn’t obtained immediately.
Unfortunately, it isn’t usually possible
for a heart attack victim to seek medical attention if they are
asleep—and that is the part that’s terrifying.
7 Central Sleep Apnea
Central
sleep apnea is basically a disorder that causes the sufferer’s
breathing to stop and start repeatedly while they are unconscious. It
happens when the brain doesn’t send the proper electrical signals to the
muscles that control the breathing mechanisms during sleep and is
believed to originate from a problem in the brain stem.
How does it
kill? Basically, if the case of apnea is bad enough, hypoxemia may set
in—which happens when oxygen levels in the body fall below those
required for normal life function. This basically leads to oxygen
deprivation.
If the brain is not able to rouse the body in enough time to take a breath, the prognosis can be fatal!
6 Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome
This is undoubtedly one of the more “mysterious” inclusions in our list.
Unexplained
nocturnal death syndrome (SUNDS) was first reported in 1917. Since
then, it has gained a pretty scary reputation in both textbooks and on
the dark corners of the Internet In the Philippines, they call it
Bangungut, and in Hawaii, they call it Dream Disease.
The exact cause
of death among those who die of SUNDS is actually still unclear, but
the presentation always seems to be similar. It basically causes
otherwise young, healthy individuals to die in their sleep for seemingly
no reason.
How does it kill? Scientists still aren’t sure . . . but
it tends to occur frequently in Southeast Asia, and researchers suspect a
range of possible explanations, from malfunctions of the ion channel to
ventricular fibrillation.
5 Cerebral Aneurysm
A
cerebral aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is basically a weak
spot in the wall of a blood vessel in the brain. It is kind of like a
thin ballon that fills with blood. But over time, as the blood pumps
through the artery, it continues to weaken and swell—and if the pressure
increases too much, a rupture can occur.
How does it kill? When an
aneurysm ruptures, the bleeding usually only lasts for a few seconds.
But the blood causes damage to the surrounding brain cells and can
increase the pressure inside the skull If the pressure elevates too
much, the condition can quickly turn fatal.
4 Enterovirus D68
This is one of the more obscure entries on our list, but that makes it no less terrifying.
Enterovirus
D68 (EV-D68) is a type of non-polio enterovirus that was first
identified back in 1962. But back in 2014, there was a huge increase in
the number of reported cases, leaving researchers to wonder if the virus
was going to become more predominant in coming years than they had
expected.
The scary thing about EV-D68 is that while it usually
causes mild to severe respiratory illness symptoms, it sometimes
produces no symptoms at all. And yet, physicians are saying that the
disease has the potential to be more dangerous than Ebola in the US.
How
does it kill? It can cause particularly severe respiratory problems,
characterized by a high-pitched wheezing sound that has become a dreaded
earmark of infection. It has also been associated with muscle weakness
and spinal cord inflammation, which is perhaps even more terrifying than
the wheezing.
Dying of an infection is not necessarily common, but
sometimes, the symptoms are dangerous enough to kill—even if the victim
is asleep.
3 Dry Drowning
Most of us are aware that you can
drown in the water. This seems like a no-brainer. But a lot of people
are not familiar at all with the term “dry drowning” and what it means.
And as it turns out, it is a pretty horrific way to die!
Basically,
the idea behind this danger is that it is a type of drowning that can
occur even after the victim has left the water. It is technically still
drowning, but “dry drowning” is the term that has come to be used to
describe it, though some doctors have argued for the dropping of said
term.
It can occur when inhaled water, even just a drop or two, makes
it past the throat and into the lungs. This usually causes symptoms,
but they are sometimes mild and easy to miss.
The scary thing is that
this water can cause breathing problems that get worse over time. And
in some cases, these breathing problems don’t strike until hours, or
even days later—after the victim has fallen asleep. So-called “dry
drowning” is actually pretty rare when you look at total deaths
attributed to drowing, but this makes it no less disturbing.
How does it kill? It basically asphyxiates the victim—depriving them of oxygen until they suffocate.
2 The Widow Maker Heart Attack
While
most heart attacks have a decent chance of waking their victims up
before death occurs, the “widow maker” tends to be an exception. We have
already mentioned heart attacks in general once on this list, but this
particular type of infarction deserves its own spot.
Why? Because it
is among the deadliest types of heart attacks that can occur. It happens
when the left main artery, also known as the left anterior descending
artery, gets blocked. A 100-percent blockage in this artery is almost
always fatal without immediate emergency care—hence the nickname.
How
does it kill? Heart attacks with severe enough blockages result in
damaged heart muscle. And if the muscle becomes too damaged to pump
blood, the result can be fatal.
1 Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive
sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder in which the victim repeatedly
stops and starts their breathing process during sleep. OSA is by far the
most common type of sleep apnea, and as it turns out, it is also
probably the most likely reason that a person may die in their sleep.
This
type of sleep apnea is literally caused by an obstruction that blocks
the airway. This obstruction is usually caused by sagging throat
muscles, though the muscles and tissues of the tongue, uvula, tonsils,
and soft palate can all play a part. It is estimated that as many as 22
million Americans suffer from sleep apnea but that 80 percent of cases
go undiagnosed—making it a true “silent killer” that many people remain
unaware of.
How does it kill? People with OSA experience sudden drops
in blood oxygen levels when they stop breathing . . . and if they are
already at risk for a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure, then OSA
can be the trigger that sets a sudden cardiac event into motion.
In such cases, death may occur before the victim even has a chance to wake up.
