Can't Sleep? Learn about a Rare Type of Insomnia that Can Cause Dementia

For those who struggle with insomnia, lying awake at night can be extremely frustrating. But for a very few people in the world, it can be deadly. Fatal familial insomnia is a rare neurological disorder that causes sleep problems, difficulties in movement, personality changes and dementia. It's a progressive disease, meaning that it gets worse over time and eventually leads to death. Like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (the more well-known and often misnamed "mad cow disease"), fatal familial insomnia is a hereditary prion disease. Fortunately, it's extremely rare, so the next time you're unable to sleep, this is one condition you very likely don't have to worry about unless it runs in your family. Less than one in a million people develop fatal familial insomnia. Here's more on fatal familial insomnia: What Is Fatal Familial Insomnia and Is There Any Treatment? Suggested Reading Does Dementia Affect Personality? What Is Mixed Dementia?Can't Sleep? Learn about a Rare Type of Insomnia that Can Cause Dementia originally appeared on About.com Alzheimers Disease on Sunday, October 27th, 2013 at 17:26:50.Permalink | Comment | Email this
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news